Gröna Lund in June 1963

Duke directing the band in one of the outdoors sessions

After the February visit to Sweden, Cat Anderson left the band temporarily, to turn up again with the band at Newport in July. He was replaced by Eddie Preston, another change in the trumpet section was that Rolf Ericson replaced Roy Burrowes, but the rest of the band was the same as in February. The band played concerts and provided dance music at Gröna Lund from June 4 to 9. Seven outdoor concert from the main scene (see picture above) and one indoor dance date from Dans In have survived. The outdoor concerts were more or less identical, consisting of

*Intro*Take The A Train*Afro-Bossa*Perdido*Medley*Take The A Train*

In one case it ends with the Medley (Take The A Train omitted) and in another case it ends with Satin Doll instead of Take The A Train.  An example from June 4 can be enjoyed below:

Perdido from June 4 with Rolf Ericson

Because of the near identical pattern in these concerts, we have chosen the one from June 6 (the one ending with Satin Doll) to present in the Goodies Room. This means that the other outdoor concerts will be omitted from our concert sequence. Previously, on Sept . 12 and 14 in 2018, we published two articles about Gröna Lund which included an outdoor concert from June 8.

Afro-Bossa (AKA Bula or Boola) was one of the most frequently played numbers in the 1963 tours. It is an instrumental, with Sam Woodyard in the centre of action. Rolf Ericson had joined the band a couple of weeks earlier when Ellington and his men had arrived in Europe. With a more modern style of playing than the other members of the trumpet section, he took over the trumpet solos on Perdido throughout his stay with Ellington. You no doubt recall that this used to be Clark Terry’s domain.

The long Medley was obviously meant to be the main event of these short open air concerts, accounting for about half the program time. The Maestro himself thoroughly identifies the soloists of the Medley. The Ellington fans certainly were able to enjoy an eventful week in early June 1963.