Rhapsody in Russia

Halfway through his six-week tour of Russia, Bandleader Benny Goodman blew into Leningrad last week and delivered his message--piping hot and groovy. The Leningrad crowd that surged forward to greet him at the opening concert shouting "Davai Benny"was by all odds the jazz-happiest crew the band had yet encountered. The only letdown came at what should have been a high point in the tour--the collaboration of Goodman and Pianist Byron Janis in a performance of Rhapsody in Blue.

Unable to agree on a date for the concert, the two had been bickering by phone as they followed their separate trajectories across the face of Mother Russia.

Finally, Janis agreed to delay his departure to accommodate Goodman. At the first joint rehearsal, he won the immediate respect of the musicians for his superb technique. But Goodman refused to allow a second rehearsal of the infrequently performed Phil Lang arrangement of the score, trusting to his band's ingenuity to carry it over the tough spots. Ingenuity, it turned out, was not enough. Because Clarinetist Goodman insisted on tootling from the center of the stage, the piano blocked him from Janis' view, forcing the pianist to crane sideways. To make matters worse, most of the time Benny neglected to conduct; Janis was kept busy nodding cues to the band. The performance was studded with sour notes and awkward pauses.

The Rhapsody over, Goodman and company piled into their more familiar repertory--such songs as Let's Dance and One O'Clock Jump--with a gusto that brought the audience to its feet and saved the evening. Vocalist Joya Sherrill, in strapless white gown, belted out a medley of show tunes, broke into a fractured Russian jazz version of the popular song Katyusha, finally set the crowd roaring by drawling out a throaty "Spasibo bolshoe" (Thank you very much). After five encores, the band signed off with its theme song, Let's Dance. The audience continued to clap rhythmically, and Goodman led his weary men back onstage for another 15 minutes of encores. Even then, the audience would not leave until Goodman appeared again onstage in hat and raincoat and acknowledged the ovation.

The only unhappy man in the hall was Pianist Janis. Said he, still brooding over Goodman's insistence on remaining at stage center: "Incredible vanity."

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