{"id":8804,"date":"2024-07-01T19:24:49","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T00:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=8804"},"modified":"2024-07-06T13:39:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-06T18:39:54","slug":"ron-cudworth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/ron-cudworth\/","title":{"rendered":"Melting Pot of Old and Young: A Conversation with Newport Festivals Security’s Ron Cudworth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival\u2019s founding in 1954. But the history is not as linear as it may seem. One can divide the seven decades into five different eras. Yet, as a lifelong Newporter like Ron Cudworth can attest, there is still a throughline between them all. He’s seen the Festival in nearly all of its incarnations. In the early years (1954-1964), his parents were among the attendees at Freebody Park. In his youth, the huge events at Festival Field (1965-1971) occurred right outside his front door. Cudworth was also there for the 1969 Festival, the “rock year,” when a near riot took place. Two years later, he witnessed the gate crash that led to a several-year exile to New York (1972-1980). Fittingly, when the Festivals returned to Aquidneck Island, the young boy who saw the chaos of those years worked hard as a member of the Festival’s security team to avoid it happening again. Having provided security since 1981, Cudworth is currently the second longest serving staff member of the Newport Festivals. He’s since seen the entirety of George Wein’s direction at Fort Adams (1981-2016) and, now, the McBride years (2017-present).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We continue our series on the history of the Newport Jazz Festival <\/a>by stepping a little behind the scenes with Cudworth to discuss his role providing security at the Festival, his growing up in Newport, and the relationship between the two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PG: So to start, you grew up in Newport?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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RC: Right. Yes, I did. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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PG: Do you remember when you first became aware of the Jazz Festival? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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RC: Alright, I’ve got a little story to tell you. When I was thirteen years old, my family lived on Girard Ave., which was basically where the festivals were. At the time, the Festivals took place at Festival Field, between [JT] Connell Highway and Girard Ave. When the Festivals were there, I used to need a pass to get into my own house. If you didn’t live on that street, you were not getting on that street.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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You could almost see the main festival gate from my house. It was very different back then. Everyone had a reserved seat. You didn\u2019t bring a blanket in and set up camp. The stage, the dressing rooms, and the rest were all permanent structures, not tents that were only there for a few weeks. Actually, in the winter, when the festivals were away, we kids used to swing off the stage and dive right into the snow. That\u2019s the way it was back in those days. You couldn’t do that today, even if the structures were still there. You wouldn\u2019t be able to get away with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, anyway, when I was thirteen years old, my father told me I could go up on the hill overlooking the Field if I wanted. And that’s where I saw Led Zeppelin, Ten Years After, and Sly and the Family Stone. We found a spot near a tree or the best spot in the grass and got ready for the night show. It was all over by ten-thirty or eleven, and it only took around five minutes to return home. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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