Here is the second part of the of first concert. It is also available for download in the Goodies Room.
It is a long version of the Medley with the following Ellington songs:
Satin Doll, Solitude, Don’t Get Around Much Anymore, Mood Indigo, I’m Beginning To See The Light, Sophisticated Lady, Caravan, Do Nothhin’ Till You Hear From Me, Just Squeeze Me, It Don’t Mean A Thing, I Let A Song & Don’t Get Around, Take the A Train (theme),V I P’s Boogie, Jam With Sam, I Got It Bad, Things Ain’t What They Used To Be, Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me, New Concerto For Cootie, Tutti For Cootie and Diminuendo In Blue & Wailing Interval.
Ray Nance is heard on Just Squeeze Me and It Don’t Mean A Thing, two of his last performances as a singer with the band before he was sent back to the U.S.A. on 15th September for unruly behaviour.
Harry Carney and Jimmy Hamilton are heard on VIP’s Boogie. and Johnny Hodges on I Got It Bad and Things Ain’t What They Used To Be. Cootie Williams is the main soloist on New Concerto For Cootie and Tutti For Cootie, the former title under the new name after Cootie rejoined the band in 1962. On Jam With Sam almost all the soloists get a chance to show off: Cootie Williams, Paul Gonsalves, Lawrence Brown, Russell Procope, Buster Cooper and Ray Nance.
In the closing number, Paul Gonsalves plays a number of choruses in The Wailing Interval, seven years after his success performance at Newport 1956.
There was a second concert two days later with the same program (or perhaps slightly different).
State Departement had apointed a young escort officer for the tour. His name was Tom Simons Jr and his father was a diplomat. During his training, he was asked , “Would you like to escort the Duke Ellington Orchestra around the Near East and South Asia from September to November, because you speak French and we need an escort who can deal with Syria and like that?” Simmons said yes and went with Ellington and band when the tour started.
His reports are an invaluable source of information about the tour and he worked hard to make things as smooth as possible during the tour.
After the two concerts, Simmons reported that over 1,500 attended the concerts and the hall was full. He describes the audience as of varied composition, with large and highly vocal student contingents who were uncertain and unruly at first but left full of enthusiasm. He also says that some people attended both concerts and complained the program was not varied between concerts.
From Damascus, Ellington went to Amman, the capital of Jordan, with his orchestra and entourage. There was only one concert. It took place on 13th Sep at 7 PM and was played in the Roman Theatre in the eastern part of Amman
In his report, Simmons writes that “the audience was large, but not large enough to fill the 5000-seat [sic] house and thus prevent echoes…The audience was somewhat more official than in Damascus, and thus somewhat more reticent”.
The concert was recorded but it seems that no tapes has survived. A list of what was played and recorded can be found in TDWAW in the entry 1963-09-13.
14th Sep was a day off and so was partly also the 15th. Ellington visited Jerusalem in the morning and went back to Ramalah for a talk/demonstration at The Friends Boys School and played a concert at 5:30 PM according to TDWAW.
On the 16th, Ellington spent another day in Jerusalem and on the 17th, Ellington. the orchestra and the entourage flew from Amman to Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan via Beireut or directly from Amman to Kabul. This was the beginning of the Central East part of the tour.
Source: The Duke Where and When (http://tdwaw.ellingtonweb.ca)
Author: Ulf Lundin and Anders Asplund
Concert and music comments: Anders Asplund