AYRESOME VIEWS
Further to Barry Norman’s letter about the 1978 Cleveland International Jazz Festival (at Middlesbrough FC) in Uncut Take 317, I spotted a 2018 web posting on the festival by co-promoter Andy Hudson which has some great behind-the-scenes info…
The Middlesbrough FC chairman refused to allow fans onto the hallowed turf at Ayresome Park, so the stage and sound was assembled by veterans of Pink Floyd and Stones shows as fans were 70 metres away from the stage; Ella Fitzgerald looking mystified at being interviewed by the BBC in a back alley of the terraced houses outside of the ground; and Buddy Rich punching a hole straight through a Portacabin wall after his subsequent gig was missed because of disruption getting to the ’Boro event. One of the shows – there were five shows over three days
