As said in the post June 1, 2016 (“Duke Ellington 1956 – the Month of May”), Duke Ellington ended his month-long engagement at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas at the beginning of June 1956 . He then went to San Francisco for a ten day engagement at the Latin American music club Macumba.

During the stay in San Francisco, he poses for the artist Peter Hurd, who is painting his portrait for a Time Magazine cover, and appears on two TV shows.

When the engagement at Macumba is finished (probably June 16), the long trip back to New York starts. Ellington and the band makes several stops on the way to play for dances or give concerts like in Farmington, Utah (Patio Club Ballroom), Denver, Colorado (Denver University Stadium), Madison, Wisconsin (Union Theater) and Chicago, Illinois (Trianon Ballroom).

On July 2, they have arrived in Ann Arbor, Michigan where they gave a concert in the Hill Auditorium of the University of Michigan. Fortunately, it was recorded and part of it is available for listening below.

Two days later – on July 4 – Ellington and the band was in Detroit, Michigan for an appearance at the State Fairgrounds and finally on July 5 they were back in New York after another 10 hours on the bus. Then there were only two days left to prepare for the appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7.