After Denmark and Sweden, Ellington, his orchestra and the rest of the entourage travelled to Germany for concerts in Frankfurt (8 June), Hamburg (10-11 June), Dortmund (12 June), Dusseldorf (13 June), Heidelberg (14 June and Munich (15 June).
In each city, there seems to have been two concerts as in Denmark and Sweden. And the reception was quite positive. In an interview with United Press, which one can find in the entry 50-06-13 in TDWAW, Duke says: “It was the best audience I ever played to! …. It was the same in every place!”
During the whole 1950 tour only four concerts were recorded, two in Zurich and two in Hamburg.
NDESOR, which was published in 1999, gives the date of the Hamburg concerts as 10 June 1950. However, new information appeared in the DEMS Bulletin in 2003 and 2004 and it triggered a correction to NDESOR that the concer(s) had taken place on 29 May and this date has generally accepted since then.
NDESOR and Ellingtonia.com give Ernst Merck Halle as the venue for the concert but this building for exhibitions and events only opened in December 1950. In the DEMS Bulletin and TDWAW, Musikhalle is given as the venue for the two concerts, which is more correct. This was the name used by the British occupying forces for Laeiszhalle, a concert hall built in the beginning of the 20th century. They used the space temporarily as a broadcasting studio for their radio station BFN (British Forces Network) and it was there where Ellington did his two concerts in Hamburg.
One was in the afternoon and another in the evening. The afternoon concert seems to have been broadcasted over BFN (5 May) and NWDR (26 June)
They day after the concert in Hamburg, Ellington, the orchestra and his entourage travelled to Copenhagen for four concerts on 31 May and 1 June. Then they travelled to Sweden for the four concerts and then back to Denmark for more concerts (see the previous article on the Galaxy website).
After this, it was time for Hamburg again for another four concerts, two on 10th June and two on the 11th June They took place at the Alu-Palats.
When I took over the DESS website in late Spring 2016, one of the first articles published was written by Anders Asplund and was about the concert in Hamburg. What we publish now is a revision and expansion of the original article
The full concert will only be published here and not in the Goodies Room.
What you here in the recording below is: Suddenly It Jumped / The Mooche / Rings Them Bells / Paradise / Air Conditioned Jungle /Y’oughta How High The Moon /Creale Love Call / On A Turquoise Cloud / Frankie and Johnny- Metronome Out / Take The “A” Train /Rockin’ In Rhythm / Violet Blue / Don’t Get Around Much Anymore /Hello, Little Boy / Juke Bop Boogie / Mood Indigo / St. Louis Blues /Caravan / Trumpets No End.
Shorter recordings of the concert exists but this is the full one.
Author: Ulf Lundin with contributions from Anders Asplund
I am so pleased with the great generosity that those who provide these to us and who keep the society going and honor the Duke and his women and men, and also honor what to us in the USA is underestimated how European audiences kept Duke and other artists going when American audiences were not so supportive. Thanks to everyone here.
You are wellcome. Send me your email address and I will ensure that you get our information letter. Best regards Ulf Lundin web site editor (ulflundin34@outlook.com)