At one of Ambassador Beam's receptions, I am delighted to meet Aram Khachaturian. The conductor of the Radio Moscow Jazz Orchestra is also there, and he asks me to attend a special performance next morning at eleven. When I explain through the interpreter that this is much too early for me, his eyes seem about to fill with tears as he explains how important my presence is to him and his people. So we compromise and agree to meet at one o'clock! When I arrive at the hall in the radio station, there he is with his twenty-piece band all ready to go. They are great players, and at the end they ask me to conduct and play in "Take the ‘A’ Train." The hall is full of musicians and their friends who have come to witness my reaction to what they consider their best jazz orchestra. << less