Sources Cited
Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington a Listener's Guide, Strudies in Jazz Series. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1999. Stratemann, Klaus. Duke Ellington Day by Day and Film by Film. Copenhagen: JazzMedia ApS, 1992. Vail, Ken. Duke's Diary. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2002.
October 30, 1946
Vail Django arrives in NY, Ellington and William Morris Agency throw a party for him Ellington closes at the Aquarium Restaurant
October 31, 1946
Vail Duke plays a 1 night show in Atlantic City, NJ
November 1, 1946
Vail Duke plays a dance in Harrisburg, PA
November 3, 1946
Vail Duke plays a concert in Buffalo, NY
November 4, 1946
Vail Duke plays the Music Hall in Cleveland, OH Django’s first show Newsweek reports there was only a 20 minute rehersal
November 5, 1946
Vail Duke plays Kitchener, Ontario
November 6, 1946
Vail Duke plays Toronto, Ontario
November 7, 1946
Vail Duke plays Toledo
November 8, 1946
Vail Duke plays Cincinnati, OH
November 9, 1946
Vail Duke plays Indianapolis, IN Stratemann Billboard states this is Django’s “first American appearance”
November 10, 1946
Vail Duke plays 2 shows in Chicago, IL Django plays 4 numbers that are recorded Stratemann Django appears in the middle of the program with minimal preparation and accompaniment by the band Lambert “In no way was Django used with the band, which is a great pity. The addition of his guitar, with its highly distinctive flavor, to the Ellington tonal palette could have been rewarding in many ways. Lambert mentions Django’s Paris recordings of 1939 under Rex Stewart’s name with Stewart on cornet, Barney Bigard on clarinet, and Billy Taylor on bass as showing what might have been. He describes Django’s performance as “rather perfunctory” but “indicative of the inventive genius of one of the greatest jazz soloists.
Duke continues almost daily gigs through the mid-west ending the 19th in Cedar Rapids, IA
November 23 & 24th, 1946
Vail Duke plays his fifth annual Carnegie Hall concert Django is featured A handbill claims it to be Django’s “First Appearance in America” Django is late to the show in the 24th because he was hanging out with French boxer Marcel Cerdan Vail reproduces a review of the concert on the 23rd, in part:
It also serverd to introduce Django Reinhardt to a New York audience, and, though he was well received, it was obvious that he was nervous and that his performance on this particular evening could have been equaled or even bettered by any one of many dozen top-flight guitarists playing in bands, studios, or on 52nd Street. Gjango did Rose Room, Tiger Rag, Honeysuckle Rose, and Body and Soul, employing all the time worn clichés in the book. Only on Improvisation No. 1, the blues, did he show any of the imagination and technique for which he is noted. Suffice to say, Reinhardt didn’t belong in the hall that night. Stratemenn “his performance was … affected by the auditorium’s chronically bad p.a. system and the unfamiliar equipment he had to use”
December 2, 1946
Vail Django leaves the troupe to prepare for his opening at Café Society Uptown. Stratemann Café Society Uptown engagement to begin on December 16, 1946