After the opening of the conference, the first morning had a very strong Swedish accent.
It started with a panel talking about “Ellington in Sweden 1939”. Participants in the panel were Alice Babs, Rolf Dahlgren, Bertil Lyttkens och Hans-Henrik Åberg.
Thanks to a change in the program, the audience could then enjoy an improvised concert by the Swedish pianist Berndt Egerbladh, who also brought Alice Babs onto the stage.
The morning session ended with Benny Åslund – appropriately – giving his greetings to the conference and showing some of his films of the Ellington band’s visits to Sweden.