George Avakian

with Paul Kolderie

March 17, 1978

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Tape A:                                                                                                          Pg. 1

Working for John Hammond at Columbia‑‑recording Duke‑‑the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival‑‑"Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue"‑‑meeting Duke as a teenager‑‑Irving Townsend‑‑naming "Such Sweet Thunder"‑‑rehearsals‑-the recording sessions‑‑rehearsal after a concert at Yale‑‑"The Mooche"‑-the longevity of the band‑‑the individuals in the band‑‑the 1935‑37 band‑‑Willie Cook‑‑Wellman Braud and Billy Taylor‑‑using two basses‑-Jimmy Blanton.

Tape B:                                                                                                          Pg. 18

Billy Strayhorn‑‑Joe Morgen‑‑Joe Glaser‑‑Cress Courtney‑‑changing the contract‑‑the boom years at Columbia‑‑recording Arthur Godfrey‑‑working with pop singers.