The Duke – Where and When

• The National Anthem
• Caravan
• In A Mellow Tone
• Solid, Old Man
• Sono
• Rugged Romeo
• Cerce [sic]
• Air Conditioned Jungle
• Excerpts from Black, Brown and Beige and Perfume Suite
• Bugle Break Extended
• Take The "A" Train
• A Tonal Group
  • a. Fugue
  • b. Rhapsoditti
  • c. Concerto for Jam Band
• Bassist and Me
• Group
  • a. Diminuendo In Blue
  • b. Transblucency
  • c. Crescendo In Blue
• Magenta Haze
• Hometown
• Suburbanite
• Songs featuring Albert Hibbler, vocalist
• Riffin' Drill

• Hardwick
• Hodges
• Sears
• Hamilton
• Carney
• Brown
• Jones
• de Paris
• Jordon [sic]
• Anderson
• Hemphill
• F. Williams
• Pettiford
• Guy
• Greer
• Ellington
• Hibbler

p.3
'Speaking from a commercial viewpoint, Ellington's fourth annual concert at Carnegie Hall January 4 was a tremdous success. Sold out to the last chair, including the too many rows which cluttered up the stage, leaving merely enough room for the band, this presentation was poorly staged. Scheduled to being at 8:45, a half-hour delay seemed an endless wait, and for the most part, the concert dragged for the balance of the evening...'

p.15
'The Chamber Hall at Carnegie, piped for sound (where you can listen but not see) with a capacity of 300, was two-thirds filled the night of the Ellington concert. Tickets sold for a dollar a seat.'

'...Although several noted men...are no longer with him, ...replacements in the various sections are capable, some even more outstanding. ...The trumpet section, nevertheless, is nothing short of sensational...this concert was not without its moments of musical thrills, if not up to the past Ellington performances. In the vocal department, Albert Hibbler deserves the honors, with equally attractive and beautifully gowned Joya Sherrill and Kay Davis very impressionistic in their solo spots...Summing it all up, many perennial Ellington followers may have found his latest concert at Carnegie lacking, but it goes without saying that any performance by him is well worth attending, and any attempt to present a popular band in concert cannot be surpassed by the wealth of Ellington offerings.'

• Hemphill
• Jordan
• Anderson
• F. Williams
• Brown
• de Paris
• Jones
• Hamilton
• Hardwick
• Hodges
• Sears
• Carney
• Ellington
• Guy
• Pettiford
• Al Lucas
• Greer
• Hibbler
• Sherrill
• Davis

• Star Spangled Banner
• Caravan
• In A Mellow Tone
• Solid, Old Man
• Come Sunday
• Light
• The Blues
• Rugged Romeo
• Sono
• Air Conditioned Jungle
• Dancers In Love
• Coloratura
• Frankie And Johnny / Metronome All Out
• Take The "A" Train
• A TONAL GROUP Rhapsoditti (Mellow Ditty) / Fugueaditti / Jam-A-Ditty
• Pitter Panther Patter
• Diminuendo in Blue / Transblucency / Crescendo In Blue
• Magenta Haze
• Suburbanite
• My Little Brown Book
• Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen
• Fat And Forty
• I'm Just A Lucky So And So
• Riff 'n' Drill

• The session was called for 8:30 p.m., began at 8:45 and lasted until 2:30 a.m.
• Esquire's Gold Esky, Silver and New award winners are listed at 1946 01 00 above.
• Musicians participating in this session: Louis Armstrong, vocal and solo trumpet; Ellington, piano; Charlie Shavers, trumpet; Hamilton, clarinet; Hodges, alto sax; Don Byas, tenor sax; Strayhorn, piano; Remo Palmieri, guitar; Greer, drums; Chubby Jackson, bass; Neil Hefti, trumpet; Red Norvo, vibraharp. The recordings used various combinations of these musicians – the record labels name those playing on each title.
• Leonard Feather composed three of the four band titles. Steven Lasker:The band, with Feather on piano, played a rehearsal take of Long Long Journey. Ellington arrived as they were listening to a playback of that take. Then, with Ellington on piano, the band recorded the master take of Long Long Journey. This was the only title Ellington recorded with the band. Armstrong is heard on Long Long Journey and Snafu but not the other two band titles. After Long Long Journey was complete, Ellington and Strayhorn worked up and recorded two duets on one piano before the remaining band recordings were made.

1. Award winners:
   • Long Long Journey
2. Ellington and Strayhorn on one piano:
   • Pianistically Allied
     (later renamed Tonk)
   • Drawing Room Blues
3. Award winners again:
   • Snafu
   • The One That
     Got Away
   • Gone With The Wind

• 12:45 a.m. – Metronome All Stars, conducted by Sy Oliver
  Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Cootie Wiliams, Rex Stewart, Harry Edison, Pete Candoli, Neal Hefti, Sonny Berman, Tommy Dorsey, Will Bradley, Bill Harris, J.C. Higginbotham, Buddy de Franco, Hermie Fields, Flip Phillips, George Auld, Teddy Wilson, Tiny Grimes, Billy Bauer, Chubby Jackson, Dave Tough
  • Title recorded:
    Look Out
• 3:15 a.m. – Metronome All Stars, conducted by Duke Ellington
  Hodges, Carney, Edison, Candoli, Hefti, Berman, Dorsey, Harris, Higginbotham, de Franco, Fields, Phillips, Auld, Wilson, Red Norvo, Grimes, Bauer, Jackson, Tough
  • Title recorded:
    Metronome All Out

1. Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
   Hemphill, Jordan, Anderson, F.Williams, Bernard Flood, Brown, de Paris, C.Jones, Hamilton, Hardwick, Hodges, Sears, Carney, Ellington, Guy, Pettiford, Greer
   • Titles recorded:
     • Take the "A" Train (theme)
     • Take the "A" Train
     • Honeysuckle Rose
     • Jam-A-Ditty
   • Esquire Swank
2. Duke Ellington and His Orchestra with Francis Wayne
   
   • Title recorded:
     • I'm Checkin' Out Go'ombye
3. Duke Ellington and His Orchestra with Woody Herman's orchestra
   As above plus Sonny Berman, Muzzy Marcellino,Conrad Gozzo, Bill Harris, Ed Kiefer, Ralph Pfeffner, Woody Herman, John LaPorta, Sam Marowitz, Mickey Folus, Flip Phillips Sam Rubinowitch, Tony Aless, Billy Bauer,Red Norvo, Chubby Jackson, Don Lamond
   • Title recorded:
     • C-Jam Blues

• Stratemann reports Ellington got $10,000 of the $19,800 ticket sales.
• Down Beat reported the venue's capacity was 3,600, but close to 3,700 managed to jam into the place for each concert and about 3,000 more were turned away (100 seats were reportedly placed in the orchestra pit.)
• AFRS used parts of these concerts on its Date With The Duke #33 transcription but not in its Treasury series.
• Exactly what was performed in each concert will likely never be known. The programme, printed in advance, was not apparently followed exactly, and the discographies only show what was recorded in-house or from part of the second concert that was aired.

  ---

  Steven Lasker:

  '1946 01 20. [The] Concert program corresponds to Chicago Civic Opera House concert as listed in the New Desor except after Circe (composer Ellington) we have Excerpts from Perfume Suite; Bugle Break Extended (Mercer Ellington, Strayhorn and Duke Ellington); INTERMISSION; Take the "A" Train and so on until Pitter Panther Patter, listed in the program as "Bassist and Me" (Ellington); Suburbanite, Al Sears, tenor sax (Ellington); Songs featuring Albert Hibbler; Riffin' Drill, Lawrence Brown, trombone (Ellington). Orange cover, 1940s b&w photo of Duke at piano, same photo as found on programs three, four and five, which all have a blue cover.'

  Palmquist note:

  Programmes for the concerts throughout the early part of the year are similar, although not identical.

  ---

  Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
  Personnel named in the discographies and the programme:
  • Hardwick
  • Hodges
  • Sears
  • Hamilton
  • Carney
  • Brown
  • C.Jones
  • de Paris
  • Jordan
  • Anderson
  • Hemphill
  • F.Williams
  • Pettiford
  • Guy
  • Greer
  • Ellington
  • Hibbler (Timner V omits him in the second concert because his segment was not in the broadcast nor among the tunes recorded on site.)
  Personnel not named in the programme:
  • Bernard Flood (new sideman)
  • Kay Davis (vocal)
  The programme shows Ellington as composer of "Bugle Break Extended" but lists Mercer Ellington and Billy Strayhorn where it shows the soloists for the other selections. There is no indication in Down Beat's review nor the discographies that Mercer or Strayhorn performed.
  

  ---

  Titles listed in the programme:
  
  • The National Anthem
  • Caravan
  • In A Mellow Tone
  • Solid, Old Man
  • Sono
  • Rugged Romeo
  • Circe
  • Air Conditioned Jungle
  • Excerpts from Black, Brown and Beige and Perfume Suite
  • Bugle Break Extended
  • Take The "A" Train
  • A TONAL GROUP
    • A. Fugue
    • B. Rhapsoditti
    • C. Concerto for Jazz Band
  • Bassist and Me
  • GROUP
    • A. Diminuendo In Blue
    • B. Transblucency
    • C. Crescendo In Blue
  • Magenta Haze
  • Hometown
  • Suburbanite
  • Songs featuring Albert Hibbler
  • Riffin' Drill
  As usual, the programme says: PROGRAM MAY BE ALTERED OR CHANGED BY MR. ELLINGTON ACCORDING TO REQUEST NUMBERS RECEIVED. The discographies confirm some variations in what was performed. They use alternate titles and have some differences in what they say was performed:
  
  • Star Spangled Banner
    (1)(2)(7)
  • Caravan
    (1)(2)(7)
  • In A Mellow Tone
    (1)(2)(7)
  • Solid Old Man
    (1)(2)(7)
  • Come Sunday [Black, Brown and Beige]
    (1)
  • Light [Black, Brown and Beige]
    (1)
  • Rugged Romeo
    (1)(2)(7)
  • Sono
    (1)(2)(7)
  • Air Conditioned Jungle
    (1)(2)(7)
  • Circe
    (1)(2)(7)
  • Dancers In Love [Perfume Suite]
    (2)(7)
  • Coloratura [Perfume Suite]
    (2)(7)
  • Bugle Break Extended
  • Frankie and Johnny / Metronome All Out (1)(4)
  • Take The "A" Train
    (1) (5) (6)(7)
  • A TONAL GROUP Rhapsoditti (Mellow Ditty) / Fugueaditti / Jam-A-Ditty (1)(2)(5 and 6 - Jam-A-Ditty only)(7)
  • Magenta Haze (1)(2)(5)(6)(7)
  • Diminuendo In Blue / Transblucency / Crescendo In Blue
    (1)(2)(5)(6)(7)
  • Pitter Panther Patter ["Bassist and Me"]
    (1)(2)(5)(6)(7)
  • Suburbanite
    (1)(2)(6)(7)
  • ["Songs featuring Albert Hibbler"]
  • My Little Brown Book
    (2)(7)
  • Every Hour on the Hou
    r(2)(7)
  • I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues
    (2)(7)
  • Fat and Forty
    (2)(7)
  • Blue Skies
    (2)(7)
  • Riffin' Drill
  
  Notes:
  • (1) Listed in New Desor and, at the time of writing, Girvan in the afternoon programme recordings.
  • (2) Listed in Nielsen
  • (3) Nielsen and Timner list Black, Brown and Beige as Spritual Theme, Work Song and The Blues.
  • (4) Nielsen and Timner list Frankie and Johnny but not Metronome All Out
  • (5) Also listed in New Desor and, at the time of writing, Girvan in the evening programme recordings
  • (6) Also listed in Nielsen in the evening programme recordings
  • (7) Listed in Timner V
  The discographies differ in varying the names of the songs to what was actually recorded. Some differences were explained by Sjef Hoefsmit:

  'The titles and sequence of the afternoon concert are from John Steiner, who recorded the first concert with a mike suspended from a line he dangled from the attic above the stage. His friend stayed for the second concert and only recorded those titles marked with an asterisk. Part of the second concert was broadcast ... through WENR. The recording of this broadcast has been used for the AFRS in Europe AFRS "DWD" 38. It seems that "Take the 'A' Train" on DETS 33 is taken from a different source to open the broadcast.'

  For a fuller understanding of how the discographies came up with their lists, read the DEMS bulletins listed to the right.

• National Anthem
• Caravan
• In a Mellow Tone
• Solid, Old Man
• Sono
• Rugged Romeo
• Circe
• Air Conditioned Jungle
• Excerpts from Black, Brown and Beige and Perfume Suite
• Bugle Break Extended
• Take the A Train
• A Tonal Group
  A. Fugue
  • B. Rhapsoditti
  • C. Concerto for Jam Band
• Bassist and Me
• Group:
  • A. Diminuendo in Blue
  • B. Transblucency
  • C. Crescendo in Blue
• Magenta Haze
• Hometown
• Suburbanite
• Songs featuring Albert Hibbler, Vocalist
• Riffin' Drill

• Hardwick
• Hodges
• Sears
• Hamilton
• Carney
• Brown
• Jones
• de Paris
• Jordan
• Anderson
• Hemphill
• F.Williams
• Pettiford
• Guy
• Greer
• Ellington

'Talk of the past week was the "Duke" Ellington concert at the Minneapolis Auditorium. This was something so different. Each player in "Duke's" orchestra is an artist in his own right. Don't know about you, but enjoyed Duke's directing as much as I did the music. The outstanding features of the evening (to me) were the singing of Al Hibbler [illegible] with the beautiful voice of Joya Sherill, filling in as an instrument; Al Sears' (sax) rendition of "Suburbpette[sic]." ... Taft Jordan and his trumpet, Johnny Hodges and of course our own Oscar Pettiford, bass violinist.
     Spied among the crowd, Mary Lou Hill and daughter, Mary Kate, Mrs. Pearle Brown, DeVelma Newman, Jane Lee and Nancy Norman (St. Paul), Mike and Jerry Schramm, Thelma McClure, Bea Slemmons ... Saw Al Reed and Benny Walton (Rocket Boys from K.C.) "sneaking in in the middle of the concert. ... "Juvenile Jive" Don (Duke) Gates was as near the band as possible....The William Burrells, Mary Ryan, Boy Wright, Patty Davison, Agnes Shanks and many others ... Saw Mrs. Leontine Pettiford and her two younger daughters, Helen and Katherine, coming from backstage where they had been to visit with their son and brother, Pettiford...Oscar did all right for his home people, even gave an encore, for which Mr. Ellington said, "we were a litte unprepared.'
(ellipses in original)

'A POSITIVE DEMAND DANCE AND CONCERT
DUKE
ELLINGTON
AND HIS Famous ORCHESTRA
WITH JOHNNY HODGES, LAURENCE [sic] BROWN, DIL [sic] HIBBLER, JOY [sic] SHERRILL, KAY DAVIS
TONIGHT     MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM... '

The Musical Sensation – DUKE ELLINGTON
WITH ALL HIS FAMOUS PERSONALITIES–HARRY CARNEY, AL HIBBLER, JOHNNY HODGES, JOYA SHERRILL, KAY DAVIS AND OSCAR PETTIFORD–BREAKING BOX OFFICE RECORDS EVERYWHERE
TICKETS ON SALE AT LIGGETT'S AND STADLER'S
First 1,000 Tickets $1.56 plus tax

• The Musical Sensation – DUKE ELLINGTON
• He's Great – He's Terrific – DUKE ELLINGTON
• MUSICALLY – The Greatest Band in America – DUKE ELLINGTON
• Don't Miss DUKE ELLINGTON – He's Great

• This half-hour network advertising vehicle aimed at bobby soxers aired at 11 a.m. EST featuring "name bands."
• The typed script for this episode (DEMS 00/3 p.4) showed vocals by Joya Sherrill and Al Hibbler crossed out and replaced by performances featuring Hodges and Sears.
• Duke Ellington and his Orchestra
  Hemphill, Jordan, Anderson, F.Williams, Bernard Flood, Brown, de Paris, C.Jones, Hamilton, Hardwick, Hodges, Sears, Carney, Ellington, Guy, Pettiford, and Greer, with show staff announcer/singer John Conte and a choir of New York high school girls.
• Titles performed by the orchestra, alone or accompanying singers:
  • Blue Heaven or My Blue Heaven*
  • Blue Skies*
  • Playoff #1
  • We're the Girl Scouts of America
  • In the Eyes of My Irish Colleen*
  • Playoff #2
  • I'm Just A Lucky So-And-So*
  • Just a-Sittin' and a-Rockin'
  • Unnamed John Conte vocal accompanied by the orchestra
  • Playoff #3
  • Sign-off theme, possibly "Next Week At This Time."
    
    
• Fifteen minutes of this episode are on the AFRS Teen Timers #4 transcription disc.
• Asterisks (*) denote titles preserved in the AFRS transcription.
• The playoffs followed commercial breaks and may be Solitude, Day By Day or Take the "A" Train, all of which were cleared for this broadcast.
• Sponsor magazine's 1947 story about Teentimers Club shows was an advertising vehicle for a clothing line, "Teentimers OHriginals," marketing clothing to bobby-soxers. Its stars drew crowds during their visits to stores in various cities and its sponsor ran local contests in store dress departments, drawing traffic through the store, generating sales in more than just the clothing sections. When first aired in 1945 on a 63-station network, 36 stores had signed franchises, with stores providing local advertising "cut-ins." By March 1947 Teentimers, Inc. and Teentimers Club had 98 radio-franchised stores and 4,000 Teentimers OHriginal outlets, with 4,000 more stores waiting to carry the line.
• When the show broadcast remotes, it would use name bands already in the area.
• In 1947 the show cost Teentimers, Inc. $9,500 weekly and appears to have been a very successful advertising venture. Sponsor's headline"
  $500,000 program sells $8,000,000 in teen-age dresses.

• Crosstown
• Passion Flower
• Magenta Haze
• Everything Goes
• Eighth Veil
• Riff'n' Drill
• Blue Abandon
• Transblucency
• Embraceable You
• Rugged Romeo
• Jennie
• Sono
• Jeep Is Jumpin'
• Take the "A" Train
• Perdido
• Tip Toe Topic

'Hollywood, March 26
     Duke Ellington has signed with Capitol Transcriptions and records first series for firm in N.Y. Thurs. (28) They'll be made at WMCA studios.'

'...Capitol Transcriptions hit the market with its initial releases on July 1...Cap is laying considerable stress on the fact that exclusive contracts have been signed with the artists on its rolls, including Duke Ellington, who signed a transportation [sic] contract for the first time. Practice is not general and under its terms Cap talent is not permitted to record for others.'

' ...some duplication of numbers made for commercial release. It is always interesting to hear different performances of the same number ... where variations of interpretation in ensemble passages are almost as common as in solos. As with the earlier Standard and World Transcriptions, neither the striving for perfection nor the time limitations of the commercial recordings is to be found in these Capitol Trancriptions. As a consequence, the duration of the numbers varies greatly, but there are no second or third takes. The sessions also contain a number of compositions and arrangements never recorded commercially.'

• Prices $3.60, $3.00, $1.80 tax included
• The Cincinnati Enquirer 1946-10-27 said

  'Last spring Duke and his company turned away hundreds of persons on the night of their concert who were ":just too late to get tickets." '

• While The Cincinnati Enquirer April 2 said the programme had not yet been announced, The Cincinnati Post printed it April 1:
  • National Anthem
  • Caravan
       Orchestra
  • In a Mellow Tone
       Taft Jordan, Trumpet
  • Solid, Old Man
       Orchestra
  • Excerpts from Black, Brown and Beige
       Orchestra
  • Rugged Romeo
       Orchestra
  • Solo [sic]
       Harry Carney, Baritone Sax
  • Air Conditioned Jungle
       Jimmy Hamilton, Clarinet
  • Circe
       Lawrence Brown, trombone
  • Excerpts from Perfume Suite
       Orchestra
  • INTERMISSION
  • Take the A Train
       Duke Ellington, Piano
  • A Tonal Group
    • a. Fugue
    • b. Rhapsoditti
    • c. Concerto for Jazz Band
    
       featuring Lawrence Brown, trombone; Taft Jordan, trumpet; Jimmy Hamilton, clarinet; Harry Carney, baritone sax
  • Magenta Haze
       Johnny Hodges, alto sax
  • Group
    • a. Diminuendo in Blue
         
    • b. Transbluency [sic]
         
    • c. Crescendo in Blue
  • Bassist and Me
       Oscar Pettiford, string bass
       Duke Ellington, Piano
  • Suburbanite
       A. Sears, tenor sax
  • Songs featuring Albert Hibbler, vocalist
  • Riffin' Drill
       Lawrence Brown, trombone
    
    
• This matches the printed programme found in DEC301
.
• Both reviewers attended a Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra concert performed with Rudolf Serkin in the afternoon, before going to Ellington's evening concert.
• Eleanor Bell, The Cincinnati Post:

  'Serkin and Ellington: All in a Days Work
       Rudolf Serkin and Duke Ellington, pianists, shared the musical spotlight here Friday... The Duke and his boys chose the evening hours for their concert in the Taft. Both men scored heavily with their respective followers. Mr. Ellington anti his ebullient boys indulged in several different levels of the jazz idiom, some of which I found distinctly tastefu1 than others. The improvisation in which the band excels was of a very high order and in my opinion to he preferred over such high-flown numbers as "Transblucency" and the two "Diminuendos."
       It is perhaps a confession of naivete to say that I thought the "Stomp for Beginners" was one of the best things on the program and more like ihe Ellington I grew up on. I am still not convinced that the concert hall is the ideal place for the Duke to display his wares.
       The virtuosos of the band had ample opportunities to exhibit their talents last night and among those who received affectionate demonstrations of approval were Harry Carney, Jimmy Hamilton, Lawrence Brown and William Anderson.
       Aside from the above-mentioned "Stomp," "Fugaditty" and "Jamaditty" and a little excursion called "Suburbanite"' left me happiest. All in all, it was a pretty noisy show and I question whether the omnipresent microphones were really necessary.'

• The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 6

  'Dropped in on Duke Ellington's band at the Taft ...Felt like I was in a strange country and didn't know the language. It took me about four numbers to get in the groove. And that's nothing against the Duke, because I'm one of his fans. His syncopating cunning, these weird harmonies, and the atmospheric color his music exudes make it arty and solid in its particular vein. Arrangements are slick. They give each man a chance to show he can compete with the "long-hair" when it comes to tone and phrasing. And the spontaneity and informality turns out pretty rewarding.
       I got “hep" when I heard the gently rising modulations of "Sono." Then "Air Conditioned Jungle" came off as an exciting novelty with Oscar Pettiford, string bass, doing some chromatic "walking" that sounded like quarter tones here and there. "Frankie and Johnnie" as a request encore brought the packed house down. I left after "Tonal Group," which the Duke announced (he forgets there's a printed program) as "Rhapsoditti," "Fugue-a-ditti" and "Jam-a-ditti," the latter featuring four instrumentalists with the mellow-toned trombone of Lawrence Brown giving a heap of stamina.'

• NATIONAL ANTHEM
• Caravan
     Orchestra
• In A Mellow Tone
     Taft Jordan, Trumpet
• Solid, Old Man
     Orchestra
• Excerpts from Black, Brown and Beige and Perfume Suite
     Orchestra
• Rugged Romeo
     Orchestra
• Sono
     Harry Carney, Baritone Sax
• Air Conditioned Jungle
     Jimmy Hamilton, Clarinet
• Circe
     Lawrence Brown, Trombone
• Excerpts from Perfume Suite
     Orchestra
• Intermission
• Take The "A" Train
     Duke Ellington, Piano
• A TONAL GROUP
  • A. Fugue
  • B. Rhapsoditti
  • C. Concerto for Jazz Band
  
     featuring Lawrence Brown, trombone; Taft Jordan, trumpet; Jimmy Hamilton, clarinet; Harry Carney, baritone sax
• magenta haze
     johnny hodges, alto sax
• GROUP
  • a. Diminuendo In Blue
       
  • b. Transblucency
       
  • c. Crescendo In Blue
• Bassist and Me
     Oscar Pettiford, string bass
     Duke Ellington, Piano
• Suburbanite
     Al Sears, tenor sax
• Songs featuring Albert Hibbler, vocalist
• Riffin' Drill
     Lawrence Brown, trombone
  
  
• Duke Ellington's Orchestra is under the exclusive management of William Morris Agency, Inc.
• Program may be changed according to request numbers received.

'...The band, after a tiring morning trip by train from Fort Wayne, Ind.,... '

'Jazz Concert
Conducted by Duke Ellington And His World Famous Orchestra
guest commentator Rush Hughes

• NATIONAL ANTHEM
• Caravan
     Orchestra
• In A Mellow Tone
     William Anderson, Trumpet
• Solid, Old Man
     Orchestra
• Excerpts from Black, Brown and Beige
     Orchestra
• Rugged Romeo
     Taft Jordan, Trumpet
• Sono
     Harry Carney, Baritone Sax
• Air Conditioned Jungle
     Jimmy Hamilton, Clarinet
• Circe
     Lawrence Brown, Trombone
• Excerpts from Perfume Suite
     Orchestra
• Intermission
• Take The "A" Train
     Duke Ellington, Piano
• A Tonal Group
  • a. Fugue
  • b. Rhapsoditti
  • c. Concerto for Jazz Band
     Featuring Lawrence Brown, Trombone; Taft Jordan, Trumpet; Jimmy Hamilton, Clarinet; Harry Carney, Baritone Sax
• Magenta Haze
     Johnny Hodges, Alto Sax
• GROUP
  • a. Diminuendo In Blue
  • b. Transblucency
  • c. Crescendo In Blue
• Bassist and Me
     Oscar Pettiford, String Bass
     Duke Ellington, Piano
• Suburbanite
     Al Sears, Tenor Sax
• Songs featuring Albert Hibbler, Vocalist
• Riffin' Drill
     Lawrence Brown, Trombone

• Duke Ellington's Orchestra is under the exclusive management of William Morris Agency, Inc.
• Program may be changed according to request numbers received.

'EXCELLENT CONCERT BY DUKE ELLINGTON
   -----Jazz Connoisseurs and Symphony Lovers in Audience at Auditorium.
   -----Lovers of hot music had theirmoments yesterday, as Duke Ellington's orchestra gave St. Louis its first full-length jazz concert. An audience estimated at nearly 4000 persons, including jazz connoisseurs and appreeiators and symphony lovers bent on findingout what makes jazz tick, filled one third of Kiel Auditorium's spacious Convention Hall. The jazz-for-listening idea proved popular, for each of the program's 22 numbers was well received.
     For those unfamiliar with jazz concerts, the musicians wore tuxedos and a dignified manner. There were printed programs, applause, an intermission, no jitterbugging.
     Ellington, appropriately enough the man mainly responsible for the jazz concert idea, practically duplicated his January concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall andChicago Civic Opera House, where concerts are now annual events. Most of the numbers were written by Ellington and his collaborators especially for the concert stage. Among these were excerpts from "Black, Brown and Beige,: a tonal story of the American Negro, and excerpts from "Perfume Suite.” One of the latter, "Dancers in Love," a piano solo by Ellington, with orchestra members keeping time with their feet, was especially well received.
     Parade of Soloists
     Ellington's soloists, most of them recognized as the best on their particular instruments, paraded up front throughout the program, Among these displays of musicianship were "Sono" by Harry Carney, baritone saxophone; "Air Conditioned Jungle," by Jimmy Hamilton, clarinet; "Circe,” by Lawrence Brown, trombone ; "Rugged Romeo," by Taft Jordan, trumpet; "Pitter Panther Patter,” by Oscar Pettiford, string bass, and “Suburbanite,” by A! Sears, tenor saxophone. Only the experts recognized the fact that Ray Nance,trumpet star just returned to the Ellington band, and not the programmed William Anderson, turned in the neat notes on In a Mellow Tone.”
     Best moods of the afternoon were captured by Johnny Hodges, alto saxophonist, who slurred just enough and bent notes engagingly on "Magenta Haze," and by Kay Davis, whose clear soprano was used instrumentally in a quartet including two trombones and a clarinet on "Transbluency [sic]." The audience squealed its pleasure on the high notes that trumpeter William “Cat" Anderson applied to various numbers; especially "Blue Skies," the dynamic climax.
     Blind Singer
     If there had been an applausemeter prize, it would have gone to Al Hibbler, the blind singer, whose work on such things as "Summertime" and “I'm Just a Lucky So and-So" brought forth cries of ”bravo!: and "more!"
     The concert, as a whole, was excellent, not only because it was the first of its kind here, but because Ellington and his men tried hard to please, and succeeded.
     There was a nice balance between the serious business and cutting up. Drummer "Sonny" Greer, musically associated with Ellington since 1919, was ever present with his great rhythms. The band, after a tiring morning trip by train from Fort Wayne, Ind., displayed fine precision and power, especially on such numbers as "Crescendo in Blue” and "Diminuendo in Blue."
     Those who expected to hear such Ellington hits as “Solitude" and "Mood Indigo” had to settle for such well-known pieces as "Frankie and Johnny” and "Blue Skies."
                 '

Stratemann, citing The Billboard, says the band played in St. Louis Sunday and Monday, but the cited The Billboard page only mentions the Sunday concert.
While I have found extensive support for the April 7 afternoon concert, I found no indication of a performance of any type in St. Louis on Monday. Perhaps something will turn up in a newspaper archive I am unable to access.

• National Anthem
• Caravan
• In A Mellow Tone, William Anderson, Trumpet
• Solid Old Man
• Excerpts From Black, Brown And Beige
• Rugged Romeo, Taft Jordan, Trumpet
• Sono, Harry Carney, Baritone Sax
• Air Conditioned Jungle, Jimmy Hamilton, Clarinet
• Circe, Lawrence Brown, Trombone
• Excerpts from Perfume Suite
• Intermission
• Take the "A" Train, Duke Ellington, Piano
• A Tonal Group
  • a.Fugue
  • b.Rhapsodittii
  • c.Concerto for Jam Band
  featuring Lawrence Brown, Trombone; Taft Jordan, Trumpet; Jimmy Hamilton, Clarinet; Harry Carney, Baritone Sax
• Magenta Haze, Johnny Hodges, Alto Sax
• Group
  • a.Diminuendo in Blue
  • b.Transblucency
  • c.Crescendo In Blue
• Bassist And Me, Oscar Pettiford, String Bass, Duke Ellington, Piano
• Suburbanite, Al Sears, Tenor Sax
• Songs Featuring Albert Hibbler, Vocalist
• Riffin' Drill, Lawrence Brown, Trombone

• Duke Ellington's Orchestra is under the exclusive management of the William Morris Agency,Inc.
• Program may be changed according to request numbers received.

• San Antonio Register:
  • 1946-03-01 announcements in the Jo's Jottings column and on page 5 discuss the series, both saying it closes April 14 with a Duke Ellington concert.
  • 1946-03-08 advertises the Samuel Huston College Artist Series, showing Ellington and his Orchestra in Concert April 14.
  • 1946-03-15
    • p.4 advertises the Samuel Huston College Artist Series, showing Ellington and his Orchestra in Concert April 14.
    • p.7 Keeping Posted announced Ellington will play a concert locally on April 14 and concludes by saying he will tour several colleges in Texas "next month."
  • 1946-03-22 p.4 advertises the series, showing two dates for three events, with April 12 above "Duke Ellington And His Orchestra in Concert" at the Sunken Garden.
  • 1946-03-29 p.4 advertises the series, showing "Duke Ellington And His Orchestra in Concert" at the Sunken Garden on April 12.
  • 1946-04-05
    • Jo's Jottings announces
      '...The series will come to a climatic close next Friday evening when America's foremost composer of modern music, the great Duke Ellington, will be presented in concert at beautiful Sunken Garden... '
    • page 4 has a large ad for the concert, Friday April 12 at 8 p.m.
    • Page 6 carries an 8 paragraph announcement about this concert, including:
      'Featured vocalist with the Ellington orchestra is Al Hibbler, blind San Antonio boy, former vocalist with Boots and his Buddies, who moved directly from San Antonio to a place in the Ellington aggregation. Hibbler, one of the most popular vocalists to ever appear in San Antonio, has been a sensational success with Ellington, with his singing having literally "stopped the show" again and again.'
      This announcement says the Sunken Garden only seats 3,000, suggesting this would not meet demand.
  • 1946-04-12 p.2 carries a large announcement with a photo of Ellington, as the final attraction of the 1946 Samuel Huston college artists series. It gives the expected programme, and says that in case of rain, two concerts would be held at the Library auditorium, one at 8, one at 10:30.
  • The 1946-04-19 p.5 review by Chuck Moore confirms the 2 ¹/₂ hour concert was Friday evening at the Sunken Garden, with an audience of about 3,000. Ellington received an ovation when he entered; Hibbler received the biggest ovations of the evening (he had been a featured vocalist in local night spots). Titles named: "Black, Brown and Beige," "Rugged Romeo," "Circe," "Air Conditioned Jungle," "Perfume Suite-Dancers in Love, Colorature [sic]," "Frankie and Johnnie," "Tonal Group (Rhapsoditti, Fuguditti and Jamaditti)," "Group (Diminuendo in Blue, Crescendo in Blue and Transblucency)," "Pitter Patter Prattle [sic]," "Suburbanite," "In My Little Brown Book," "Summertime," "I'm Just A Lucky So-an-So [sic]," and "You're My Meat." Musicians named: Hibbler, Jordan, Brown, Hamilton, Carney, Davis, Lucas, Pettiford And Sears.
• The San Antonio Light:
  • 1946-04-05, page 6-D advertises Samuel Huston College Artist Series presents Duke Ellington And His Orchestra at Sunken Garden Theatre, Brackenridge Park, Friday, April 12, 8:00 PM.
  • 1946-04-07 pp.14-A and 15-A carry an announcement and an ad, repectively, for the April 12 concert.
    "Duke Ellington and his band will be the final of the Samuel Huston College artist series to be presented in San Antonio this spring. The concert is on April 12 at 8 o'clock in the Sunken Garden theater."
  • 1946-04-09 p.8-A advertises the April 12 concert.
  • 1946-04-12 p.12-A advertises the April 12 concert.

• Jam-A-Ditty
• Blue Is The Night
• Passion Flower

• Stratemann:

  'It was on this day that Ellington resumed the Treasury broadcast series, out of the studios of KABC, the local ABC affiliate. The resumption was quite unannounced, and only parts of it recorded by ABC (DETS #34). The AFRS as well failed to pick up this program for its "Date With The Duke" transcriptions. In fact it did not start to record Ellington's ABC broadcasts until three programs later, on May 4, 1946. '

• Stratemann and New Desor locate the broadcast at Fort Sam Houston and Nielsen puts it at KABC's studio, but a local newspaper review by C. A. Moore said it was at the San Pedro Playhouse, with an audience of high school musicians. The fort and the playhouse are both in San Antonio, about 6 miles apart.
• A nationwide survey of radio logs shows no reaon to assume Ellington broadcast from two locations that day:
  

  Eastern Time Zone	Central Time Zone	Pacific Time Zone
  Stamford, 4:00 p.m. Rochester, N.Y. 3:30 p.m. (90 mins.) Columbia, 4:00 p.m. Tampa Bay, 4:00 p.m. Palm Beach, 4:00 p.m. Washington D.C. 4:15 p.m. Zanesville, 4:30 p.m.	Orange, 3:30 p.m. Fort Worth, 3:00 p.m. Amarillo, 3:00 Chicago, 3:00 p.m. Shreveport, 3:00 p.m. Lincoln, 3:00 p.m. Omaha, 3:00 p.m.	Bakersfield, 1:00 p.m. Los Angeles, 1:00 p.m. These logs, including Rochester with 90 contiguous minutes, indicate there was only one broadcast this day.

• C.A. Moore:

  'Last Saturday at 3:00, I sat in on the Ellington broadcast from the San Pedro playhouse which went out over KABC to stations of the American broadcasting company. The broadcast was open only to members of the local school bands. Unfortunately, because of the acoustics in the playhouse, we were unable to hear Kay Davis' vocals. She sings very softly. The background 88ing while Duke was talking over the mike was Billy Strayhorn who also sat in on one of the numbers with the band while Duke directed. If anyone who attended the broadcast is wondering why Duke placed his fingers to his ears during the warm-up prior to going on the air, it is his method of checking the balance of the band.'

• 1946-03-10:
  'Duke Ellington...will bring his orchestra to Austin for an all-University concert April 13, announced Mrs. Loyce Spratt, Texas Union director. Sponsored by the Union's dance committee, Ellington will play in Gregory Gym for a concert only...'
• 1946-03-14:
  '...will make an appearance at Gregory Gym Saturday night, April 13, at 8:15 o'clock, under the auspices of the Texas Union, the Cultural Entertainment Committee and the Samuel Huston College Austin Series...
    Prices for the Ellington concert will be $1.20, $1.80, $2.40, and $3.00, with a special section of seats reserved for colored listeners. As the program is not purely a University function, and is being partially sponsored by outside organizations, there will be no blanket tax reduction...'
• 1946-03-31 p.8 advertisement for April 13
• 1946-04-14 pp.1,3 report by Bob Cole:
  'The Duke: Dancers Stop, Listen As American Jazz Grows Up
  
    Duke Ellington is a great guy – he shook my hand.
    Playing before an approximated 3,000 Negro and white audience, the impresario of the piano and his eighteen-piece orchestra thrilled a serious-minded, music loving University and Austin public.
    Making excellent artistic use of light, color, and climactic sound and light changes, the technicians enhanced the beauty and rhythmical action with which the Ellington orchestra played...
  ...
    For the second time in two years at the University, Negroes sat on the main floor of the Gregory Gymnasium auditorium. It may be remembered that Marian Anderson, soprano, came to the University last Spring with the stipulation in her contract that seats of equal proximity be provided to members of her race. A similar clause in the contract of Duke Ellington provided that one half of the seats be reserved for Negroes.
    We talked about some of the piano players Duke knew...'
• The Laredo Times:

  'Antonio Preito, Jr. enjoyed the Duke Ellington four hour concert last Saturday evening. Antonio...lives with two other Laredoans ... in Austin.'

• National Anthem
• Caravan
       Orchestra
• In A Mellow Tone
       Taft Jordan, Trumpet
• Solid, Old Man
       Orchestra
• Excerpts From Black, Brown And Beige
       Orchestra
• Rugged Romeo
       Orchestra
• Sono
       Harry Carney, Baritone Sax
• Air Conditioned Jungle
       Jimmy Hamilton, Clarinet
• Circe
       Lawrence Brown, Trombone
• Excerpts from Perfume Suite
       Orchestra
• Intermission
• Take the "A" Train
       Duke Ellington, Piano
• A Tonal Group
  • A.Fugue
  • B.Rhapsodittii
  • C.Concerto for Jam Band
       featuring Lawrence Brown, Trombone; Taft Jordan, Trumpet; Jimmie Hamilton, Clarinet; Harry Carney, Baritone Sax
• Magenta Haze
       Johnny Hodges, Alto Sax
• Group
  • A.Diminuendo in Blue
  • B.Transblucency
  • C.Crescendo In Blue
  • c.Crescendo In Blue
• Bassist And Me
       Oscar Pettiford, String Bass
       Duke Ellington, Piano
• Hometown
       William Anderson, Trumpet
       Al Sears, Tenor Sax
• Suburbanite
       Al Sears, Tenor Sax
• Songs Featuring Albert Hibbler, Vocalist
• Riffin' Drill

'Duke Ellington Pleases With Distinctive Program
     Duke Ellington and his orchestra came to town and toward the end of the evening the orchestra and the audience merged into one huge jam session. The affair was staged m W jIJ Rogers Memorial Auditorium...for the beneift of Samuel Huston College of Austin, a Negro institution... an almost capacity audience, at least a fourth of whom were whites, crowded into the hall.
     This department would be rash indeed to claim to be hep to all the doings of the evening. Most of the tunes we never had heard but perhaps for that reason it is possible to take a larger over-all view.
     ...The band is primarily brass, with five trumpets and four trombones, five saxophones, a half-time clarinet, two string basses, guitar and a busy percussion. Ellington himself, besides acting as an affable emcee, sits for half-time at the piano on which he has impressive technical facility. He does not begrudge the spotlight to a dozen assorted soloists, among whom were William Anderson, who exploits a freak C in alt. on the trumpet, sultry voiced contralto Kay Davis and Albert Hibler, [sic] popular baritone.
     From a program of generous length, made up we suppose of the best-known Ellington tunes, we may mention a few in naive innocence of what may be the most popular. From "Black, Brown and Beige" ...two arresting excerpts were “Spiritual" and “Blues/" "Sono" and "Circe" were melodically appealing in the "straight" style. Ellington at his most advanced (we would say scholarly) was a tonal group made up of "Rhapsoditti," "Fugueditti" [sic] and Jamditti," [sic] the last a jam holiday on the theme of the fuge. "Magenta Haze" returns to the seductive atmospheric harmonic mist we knew in "Mood Indigo." The style is Ellington's most distinctive contribuiton and we could have used more of it.'

• Take The "A" Train (theme)
• Stompy Jones
• Moon Mist
• D.E. Bond Promo
• Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'
• I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me
• Sophisticated Lady
• D.E. Bond Promo
• Jennie
• I'm Just A Lucky So And So
• Come Sunday
• Light
• We'll Be Together Again
• Hollywood Hangover
• Just Squeeze Me
• D.E. Bond Promo
• Perdido

'April 27 Municipal Auditorium, Worcester, Mass. (DETS # 35)'

'Duke Ellington and his Orchestra play a one-nighter at the Armory in Worcester, Mass.'

'This was the first broadcast in the Treasury series to be picked up by the AFRS since the series had been discontinued in November of 1945.'

• Take The "A" Train (theme)
• Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'
• D.E. Bond Promo
• 9:20 Special
• I Can't Get Started
• Flamingo
• Fancy Dan
• Diminuendo In Blue - Transblucency - Crescendo In Blue
• D.E. Bond Promo
• Someone
• Three Cent Stomp
• D.E. Bond Promo
• I'm Just A Lucky So And So

• In A Mellow Tone
• I'm Just A Lucky So And So
• Sono
• Rugged Romeo
• Circe
• Air Conditioned Jungle
• Full Moon And Empty Arms
• D.E. Bond Promo
• Laughing On The Outside
• Take The "A" Train (theme)

• Take The "A" Train (theme)
• Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'
• Crosstown
• D.E. Bond Promo
• Summertime
• Teardrops In The Rain
• Frankie And Johnny - Metronome All Out
• D.E. Bond Promo
• Rockabye River (Hop Skip Jump)

• Outdoor concert, 8:30 p.m. for the benefit of Teen Age Canteen, for "underprivileged colored adolescents."
• Sponsored by "The Baker's Dozen, Inc." a group of young women led by Mrs. Ruth Spencer, which had been sponsoring Teen Age Canteen for the previous 18 months. In 1947 The Pittsburgh Courier ran a story about The Baker's Dozen and its project.

Concert Programme
Baker's Dozen presents Duke Ellington and his orchestra
Click to Enlarge

• Tickets:
  Reserved $2.40 and $3.60 tax included;
  General admission $1.20,
  Patrons $4.80
• The concert was played on a stage built on a barge anchored in front of the amphitheatre, which was essentially the wide stairway leading from the Lincoln Memorial to the shore of the Potomac River
• Then-WWDC radio-man Willis Conover was the master of ceremonies. He and Ellington are pictured on the stage at https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc743762/m1/1/

• According to Stratemann, this was Ellington's first concert in his home town. His take was $10,000, the audience was the largest to date at this venue, and 3,000 people had to be turned away.
• An unattributed report in Vail I, headlined "Ellington Concert Lures 11,000 Fans to Watergate," says there was a sellout audience of 8,000 with 3,000 kibitzers.
• The Evening Star reported:

  '9,000 Hear Duke Ellington's Jazz Concert at Water Gate
  
    An audience of approximately 9,000 last night swayed to the rhythmic beat of music played at the opening Watergate program of the season led by Duke Ellington - the boy who came into the world within a stone's throw of the Washington ball park, jerked soda at the Poodle Dog Cafe and graduated from the school of hard knocks into the international big time of music.
    The program, sponsored by the Baker's Dozen, Inc., originally 13, now 20, young Washington women, was arranged to raise money for a permanent home for the group's canteen, which aims to provide a social-recreational program for Washington 'teen-agers.
    The program was a sell-out, with 7,000 individuals paying as high as $12 for seats and roughly 2,000 kibitzers lolling in boats and canoes and lining the rails of Arlington Memorial Bridge and Riverside Drive to hear the Duke's hand-picked musicians give out with the last word in blues, jumps, jams, swing, "rhapsoditties," "fugueditties," "magenta hazes," diminuendos, crescendos and "transblucencies."
    The crowd was orderly. As far as could be learned, there were no untoward incidents. There was no raucous applause, no dancing in the aisles. Enthusiastic applause was kept strictly on the polite side.
    The Duke started his program with "Caravan" and ended it with "Blue Skies". In between he ran the gamut of jazz. There was "In a Mellow Tone," "Solid, Old Man," "Black, Brown and Beige" - the Duke's composition which, in the words of a biographer, "parallels the history of the American negro - "Rugged Romeo," "Air Conditioned Jungle," Take the "A" Train," "Bassist and Me," "Riffin' Drill," Metronome All Out," "Frankie and Johnny" (to a jump beat) and a dozen others.
    During the intermission only a relative [sic] few autograph seekers managed to elude guards on the concert barge and get the Duke's signature. Park Police stood by to keep others from pressing onto the barge after the performance, but the crowd as a whole strolled off in good order and silence again closed on the Lincoln Memorial.'

• The Baltimore Afro-American's review reported a sellout audience of 8,000 including 49 veterans from the Walter Reed General Hospital, and 3,000 kibitzers in rowboats, canoes and lining the rails of the bridge.

Advertisement for June 7th 1946
Click to Enlarge

DUKE ELLINGTON and his famous ORCHESTRA Featuring AL HIBBLER – KAY DAVIS
VOCALIST

Admission:
Advance Tickets $1.50; At Door $1.75
Presented by
NATIONAL COLORED PROMOTERS ASSOCIATION

• Take The "A" Train
• Mood To Be Wooed
• D.E. Bond Promo
• Johnny Come Lately
• They Say It's Wonderful
• Strange Love
• Honeysuckle Rose
• Don't Take Your Love From Me
• D.E. Bond Promo
• Blues On The Double
• Come Sunday
• Light
• D.E. Bond Promo
• Lover Man
• Riff Staccato
• Mood Indigo
• D.E. Bond Promo
• Riff 'n' Drill

• National Anthem
• Caravan
       Orchestra
• In A Mellow Tone
       Taft Jordan, trumpet
• Solid, Old Man
       Orchestra
• Sono
       Harry Carney, baritone sax
• Rugged Romeo
       Orchestra
• Circe
       Lawrence Brown, trombone
• Air Conditioned Jungle
       Jimmy Hamilton, clarinet
• Excerpts From Black, Brown and Beige and Perfume Suite
  
• Bugle Break Extended
• Intermission
• Take the "A" Train
       Orchestra, Duke Ellington, piano
• A Tonal Group
  • a.Fugue
  • b.Rhapsodittii
  • c.Concerto for Jam Band
       (Featuring Lawrence Brown, trombone; Jimmie Hamilton, clarinet; Taft Jordan, trumpet; Harry Carney, baritone sax)
• Bassist And Me
       Oscar Pettiford, string bass
       Duke Ellington, piano
• Group
  • a.Diminuendo in Blue
  • b.Transblucency
  • c.Crescendo In Blue
• Magenta Haze
       Johnny Hodges, alto sax
• Hometown
       William Anderson, trumpet
       Al Sears, tenor sax
• Suburbanite
       Al Sears, tenor sax
• Songs Featuring Albert Hibbler, vocalist
• Riffin' Drill
       Lawrence Brown, trombone

'IF ANYONE had any doubts about Edward Kennedy Ellington and his band being able to deliver a concert program, all of them should have been effectively dispelled by Thursday night's performance in Memorial Hall. A more varied, interesting and satisfying evening is hard to imagine.
     The program contained a nice balance of familiar items in the Ellington style and the more serious efforts of the Duke in the jazz idiom. Most impressive, even beyond the remarkable rhythm in infinite variety, was the strict musicianship evidenced in all departments.
     Soloists were given ample opportunity to play in "the style of their characters," and if one were to start naming them, each would have to be named. One of the most outstanding men in the orchestra, Sonny Greer, was not given a solo in drums, but he shone brilliantly the entire evening.
     My notes reveal likings for "Sono," an expertly done piece with a strange building to a midcomposition climax; "Air Conditioned Jungle," with nicely controlled frenzy switching to mad midnight quiet, right out of "Emperor Jones;" the piano piece from the Perfume Suite, a highly literate and descriptive item which ought to be included in "long-hair" concerts and finally, "Suburbanite" which filled Memorial Hall full of more fortissimo sound than it ever contained before.
     The tonal group brought various combinations to the center where, with music laid on the floor, some absolutely fabulous things were done in moods ranging from quiet dignity to an authentic jam session. "Transblucency," one of a group, was an interesting novelty which effectively used the clear, true voice tones of Vocalist Kay Davis as an instrument part in a quintet of piano, bass, clarinet and trombone.
      Al Hibbler's rendition of "Summertime" brought him two justifiable encores.'

• Minneapolis Spokesman

  'Duke Ellington's band played to a capacity crowd at the Duluth Armory, Thursday, June 20. A number of our young people attended.'

• Remote broadcast introduced as Duke Is On the Air
• Announcer says 2,500 people attended.
• Part of the dance was broadcast over ABC and WDSM.
• The recorded songs are:
  • Take The "A" Train (theme)
  • Take The "A" Train
  • Transblucency (Kay Davis vocal)
  • C-Jam Blues
  • I'm Just A Lucky So And So (Al Hibbler vocal)
  • Riff Staccato (incomplete)
  • Come Rain Or Shine (Kay Davis vocal)
  • Blue Skies
  • Things Ain't What They Used To Be
• Personnel named by Ellington at the end of the broadcast:
  
  • Hodges
  • Carney
  • Hamilton
  • Sears
  • Nanton
  • Jordan
  • C. Anderson
  • Greer
  • Nance
  • Pettiford
  • Strayhorn
  • Davis
  • Hibbler
• At the time of writing, transcriptions of the broadcast can be heard and downloaded at the links to the right.

'  Public safety committee Friday morning granted permission to the Amphitheatre Ltd. to use its premises for a concert and dance when Duke Ellington plays here June 22, but will advise officials that in future, the issuing of permits for this purpose will not be guaranteed.
   W.D. Hurst, city engineer, told committee that "a very high degree of fire protection for dance halls" was in force thoughout the rest of the cuntry [sic], that dane [sic] hall requirements stipulate steel roof and masonry walls, in other words, complete fireproofing.
  "I can't see my way clear to take responsibility for granting this permit, so I've put it on safety committee," he said.
  Ald. J. Stepnuk, committee chairman, pointed out tat Chief Donald Boulden, of the city fire department, would arrange to have special men in and around the building; that it would be "taken care of by hydrants". Since the attraction had already been advertised, grant the permit this time, was his advice.'

'Duke Ellington, hailed in Billboard and Variety as crowding the top of the musical heap, entertained a large crowd of Saskatonians Monday night at the Arena with his own particular style of orchestration and ivory ticklin'. Most of the boys sitting up on the platform with the "Duke" have been with him since the old days, some of the stars as long as 27 years. The band heard in Saskatoon included the concert and dance artists who played at Massey Hall in Toronto last season...'

Audience of 3,000 Enjoys Duke's Jazz
  The fabulous Duke Ellington established his right to that regal title in the jazz field at the Arena Tuesday night when he and his 16-piece band "Knocked themselves out" to please the 3,000 persons attending his concert and dance.
  The fans filled half the seats in the Arena an hour or more before the program was due to get under way, and as individual members of the band made their way to [sic] dressing rooms, a little late, they got big hands from the crowd.
  IT WASN'T LONG after the band swung into its first number before the dance floor was crowded, and those who had come to watch and listen were jammed in solid against the band stand watching their favorites [sic] in action.
  After a session of the popular classics the Ellington [sic] has made famous, the band took time out to eat, but the Duke was booked solid for the intermission.
  He signed hundreds of programs scraps of paper, cigarette boxes, anthing the fans could find. The other famous names in the band got the same treatment–Johnny Hodges, the sensational alto sax man; Oscar Pettiford, who slapped the bass all night; Sonny Greer on the drums; tricky [sic] Sam Nanton on the trombone; Ray Nance, who played violin and sang and clowned his way through the show; and "Cat" Anderson, whose high notes on the trumpet were higher than the Arena roof.
  BLIND AL HIBBLER proved his vocal ability with a half-dozen popular tunes, including Gershwin's "Summertime" and got a temendous ovation from the mob.'

'There are a few people who find train rides soothing and comforting. Duke Ellington is one of them, for it is there he does a good part of his composing.
  "The Duke" was in Calgary Wednesday night to play at a dance sponsored by the Calgary Navy Club at the armories. With him were his 18-piece orchestra, three vocalists and his arranger. . . Mr. Ellington travels comfortably in a navy blue pin-striped suit, open necked shirt, pullover sweater, wine-colored suede shoes and cool straw hat. He's a big man with sleepy eyes, and he wears a scowl when he's concentrating...'