Uppsala 1971

In Duke Ellington's tape collection ("The Stockpile") were several tapes with concert recordings of the band's performances on tour. One can only guess whether these tapes were required by Duke for some purpose, or were given to him (or his son Mercer) on the initiative of the concert arrangers. At any rate it was a great delight to find a tape box marked "Ellington - Uppsala 9-11-71" in the collection, containing a tape with a concert at the university town of Uppsala, Sweden on Nov. 9th 1971. The second of two concerts in Uppsala that day. Uppsala is a very old and very beautiful town with a cathedral founded in the 13th century, and a university. The concert in Uppsala, the second on this Tuesday evening, started with The C Jam Blues as it was usual at that time. C Jam Blues had sort of replaced Take The A Train as the band's signature tune. Norris Turney is heard on the clarinet over the band at the beginning, and Cootie Williams, Paul Gonsalves, Booty Wood, and Russell Procope follow. The centerpiece of the concert was the band's performance of A Tone Parallel to Harlem or HARLEM as it was also called. To end the evening properly and bring the audience in a more relaxed mood before leaving the concert hall Ellington chose to finish the concert alone at the piano, just accompanied by Joe Benjamin on the bass, playing his own arrangement of Billy Strayhorn's lovely tune Lotus Blossom. As evident from the performance at the Uppsala concert, the band could live up to the challenges, and it was received everywhere with enthusiasm and - love.