98. Airgram From the Embassy in Yugoslavia to the Department of State1
SUBJECT
- EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE: Visit and Performances of Duke Ellington Orchestra in Yugoslavia
SUMMARY:
ELLINGTON ORCHESTRA GIVES TWO PERFORMANCES IN BELGRADE, ONE IN DUBROVNIK. DUBROVNIK CONCERT FIRST JAZZ PRESENTATION IN TRADITIONALLY CLASSIC SUMMER FESTIVAL. DUKE, AS USUAL, OUTSTANDING AMBASSADOR OF GOOD WILL. AUDIENCES ENTHUSIASTIC. PRESS, RADIO, TV COVERAGE EXCELLENT.
Seventeen musicians and an entourage of twelve (managers, composers, personal attendants and wives) accompanied Duke Ellington when he arrived at Belgrade’s airport at 1505 hours on July 14. In addition to representatives of the sponsoring Yugoslav organization—the “Dom Omladine” (House of Youth)—press, radio and TV correspondents, a delegation of Embassy officers as well as local fans, the jazz orchestra of Belgrade Radio/TV was on hand to welcome the Duke of American jazz.
The impressive welcome, with the Belgrade orchestra playing classic Ellington compositions in the airport terminal, was slightly delayed because of the fact that the group had arrived without Yugoslav visas. The “Duke” himself was passed through customs without delay and smilingly took over from leader Vojislav SIMIC the direction of the pleased Belgrade musicians who performed with such vigor that all activity in the airport terminal including announcements of plane arrivals and departures was forced to a halt.
The Ellington orchestra played its first concert in the large “Dom Sindikata” hall in central Belgrade less than three hours later. Despite the fact that it was already off season and the temperatures soared, well over 1,000 Belgrade jazz buffs were on hand enthusiastically [Page 238] applauding the orchestra for which they had been waiting for so many years. The Duke was scheduled to perform in Yugoslavia in 1963 under CU/CP sponsorship but the tragic death of President Kennedy resulted in a cancellation and seven more years of effort before the Youth Hall was able to arrange the present appearance.
The first concert ended at 7:30 p.m. with the Duke enthusiastically telling his equally enthusiastic audience “Volim Vas Ludo” (Serbo-Croatian for “I Love You Madly”) his usual closing lines. The audience responded with a crescendo of applause.
Despite his obvious fatigue the Duke was prevailed upon to give two interviews during the short one hour pause between performances. The first was for UPI correspondent Richard Sudhalter and an Embassy employee taping for VOA. The second was for a group of Yugoslav journalists representing the Belgrade press, a jazz publication, a popular radio disc jockey, “MiniMax”, and the Macedonian press. Both interviews were directed toward the Duke’s musical career, his views on music, art and philosophy of life. The press, radio and TV coverage flowing from the interviews, both in Belgrade and Dubrovnik, has been outstanding. It will be submitted separately.2
The second performance of the evening (and the final one in Belgrade) was attended by more than 1,500 enthusiastic jazz fans and was broadcast live by both Radio and TV Belgrade. A feature of the program proudly announced by the sponsors was the first European performance of the “New Orleans Jazz Suite”.3
The Embassy co-hosted with the Yugoslav sponsors a reception for the orchestra following the second performance. The performance and reception were attended by the Ambassador and Mrs. Leonhart and daughters. The Duke dedicated a final number to Mrs. Leonhart.
The schedule of the Ellington orchestra in Yugoslavia initially included a performance in Zagreb, which was regrettably scratched when the sponsoring Croatian organization withdrew its projected sponsorship. The gap in the program was quickly filled a week before their arrival by the Concert Agency and the organizers of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival who broke tradition by including JAZZ for the first time in this traditionally classical program. The Embassy was at least partially instrumental in making this possible by underwriting $1,500 (in GOE dinars) of the $4,000 orchestra fee for this performance. It might be added parenthetically that the Belgrade Bank of Commerce was also a contributing sponsor in making the necessary exchange of dinars into dollars to pay the orchestra and by otherwise helping in [Page 239] defraying costs through paid advertisements. The bulk of the $6,000 fee for the two Belgrade performances was covered however by Belgrade Radio/TV.
The CAO and the Yugoslav Cultural Advisor accompanied the orchestra to Dubrovnik on July 15. The day in Dubrovnik began with a two hour press interview by correspondents from “Politika”, “Vjesnik”, “Oslobodjenje”, “Dubrovacki Vjesnik”, Zagreb Radio/TV, “Slobodna Dalmacija”, the Hungarian language press from the Vojvodina and representatives of the Dubrovnik Festival. The publicity manager of the Festival took it upon himself to translate in full a letter sent to Duke Ellington by President Nixon applauding his current trip abroad as an important means of bringing part of American culture to people abroad.
Most interesting was a question asked by Mr. Nikita PETRAK, the music editor of Zagreb Radio/TV, who inquired whether Ellington knew Willis Conover of VOA. When the Duke responded that he knew Conover personally, Petrak commented that Willis Conover is fondly considered to be the principal tutor and friend of a whole generation of Yugoslav jazz buffs. Petrak went on to say that not only have he and thousands of Yugoslav youth learned and kept abreast of the best in popular music through Mr. Conover’s program but for over 15 years he has also been their inspiration and teacher of English. Petrak’s spoken (American) English is letter perfect and one can, in fact, easily detect the tonal qualities of Conover’s voice.
An excellent review by music critic TOMASEK in the July 17 issue of Vjesnik sums up the general reaction of the Yugoslav press and the Dubrovnik Festival audience: “This was a display presented in the most serious vein—according to Stravinsky4—of the best in the musical entertainment in the USA. This was the ideal answer to the dilemma as to whether such music belongs in the Dubrovnik Festival. In my opinion the level of this performance should be the standard according to which future performances of this kind are to be included.”
The 9 p.m. concert of the Duke Ellington orchestra on an outdoor terrace of one of the towers ringing the walled city of Dubrovnik was heard not only by the overflow crowd of 1,300 plus but, seemingly, by everyone within the city. The Duke and his orchestra departed Dubrovnik by early flight on July 16 bound for Palermo.
The visit of the Duke Ellington orchestra to Yugoslavia can be considered an outstanding success. Professionally, the orchestra performed without flaw and met every expectation. “The Duke” was, as [Page 240] usual, a charming Ambassador of Good Will and the orchestra members were likewise, both onstage and off.
- Source: National Archives, RG 306, USIA Historical Collection, Records Relating to Select USIA Programs, 1953–1999, Entry A1–1061, Box 6, Duke Ellington, Tours, 1959–1976. Unclassified. Drafted by Sharek on July 23 and approved by Littell. Sharek initialed for Littell. Repeated for information to Zagreb. Copies were sent to USIA–IAS and to Chapman at the Consulate in Zagreb. A stamped notation indicates that it was received in the Department on July 27 at 7:04 a.m. A notation in an unknown hand in the right-hand corner of the Airgram reads: “(Report read to Conover’s office.).”↩
- Not found.↩
- Presumable reference to Ellington’s 1970 studio album New Orleans Suite.↩
- Presumable reference to Soviet composer, pianist, and conductor Igor Stravinsky.↩
- Littell signed for Leonhart over Leonhart’s typed signature.↩