[Leon Breeden Scrapbook: 1964] Page: 89
[155] p. : ill. ; 29 cm.View a full description of this book.
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Meanwhile, it was thought advisable to appeal directly
to the University of Kaneas for financial assistance. r.
Soph wrote to Dr. W. Clarke Wesooe, Chancellor of the universityy,
on June 11, 1964, in order to acquaint him with what had
developed as far as the Top Award of the Cread Jazz Festival
was concerned. I wrote Dr. Weacoe on June 12 and advised him
of the finenanoisil brden which had been shifted to us. I
Informed him that our ability to make the trip at all would
depend on scme form of financial assistance and respectfully
Lnq'uired if such assistance could possibly come from the
Unlv rsity of Kansas. I have received no written rearcsnee
t: my letter to this date.
On the night of June 1A, 196i, I received a telephone
nII1 from Karen Indall. This was to supply information which
I had re^ueCCtef. I told :s Indall aain that there was soe
,c0bt now as to whether or not we would be able to -o at all.
She wondered if we might go as a trio If soacone in the g-roup
could not afford to go. I pointed cut that the award had been
made to the quartet, that we had rehearsed as a quartet, and
that the group would have to go to Europe as a quartet to fulfill
the anwrd.
She then informed me that she had Just received word from
It:ly and Luxembrg, and while She had originally thought that
we could not bs booked in these coautrs, it seemed that now
everything had been arranged. I asked her what type of
engagements we would be playing in each city. She said that
she w en't sure in many cases because many of the cities
they had contacted had stated that if a group did come, they
would try to use they in nome way. When asked about paying
engagement, she informed me that the people in Europe had
been approached by asking if they "would provide room and
board or a nominal wage" in return for the group's arpearances.
:hen offered such a choice, providing room and board would
understandably be honen. Nto mention tan rde of transportation.
hen asked about the Copenhaen Job (we were told on April 26
that it would nay), LIlse Indall said that the man in Copenhagen
had oriTI'Ty1y said the job would pay but had made no further
camittaent.
:.:ia Indall said that _ae wa sorry the itin r:_r': ad tsr.
-: l.c= to -repare. She ex;l.i.. th.at the delly " duo to
the fact that as her letters had been sent Air :;il, reclye
from Eurone had been ocnstantly sent by boat. I find It difficult
to believe that such replies would have been continually
handled in this manner. If they were sent by boat at firot,
it would have been oample onouigh to request that reply be via
air mall or to include a self-sddressed air mall stained
-nvelope for the replays. There was certainly no reason for
il return correspondence to have been sent by boat as ;ies
aIndal .Indicated.Mias In:all alo state.d th-t Jsh- hl b .
hard" on the itinerary since arch. The festi7al wa haeb in
April. I ougreat that work on the itinerary should have be u:,
long a6o as the winning group could have been presented a
complete or very nearly complete itinerary at the festival.
There is no reason why the matter should not have been hannl d
far more efficiently. While iss Indall is evidently a
conscienaous student, such a job as arranging the details
a European tour for a musical group should have been given ore
someone with more experience in business proceedings, with ore
knowledge of the problems peculiar to a musical grcup of our
nature, and to someone with more time and interact to devote
to the task. It is our feeling that the project of "rr, int
the European itinerary has been handled most ineffective.
His Indall's administrative adviser (I assume this ws Dr.
;.aher) must equally share the responsibility of this task.
The next word I was to receive anme in the form of a
telephone call from Dr. .;aher. He informed me that he h
2een told by 4iss Indall that we weren't goIns. I xnlew~
that we weren't sure that we would be able to go as ':e well
suddenly without any financial assistance. He said, "e! i
you Gmow you weren't awarded an all expense paid trip to c
I explained that we were aware of this fact, but that it had
been pointed out to us e eatedly that the money from the tew
York engagement would cover, along with the paying enageinte
in Europe, whatever expenses we would most likely Incur while
in Europe. He agreed that this was true. I informed him
that we had written to Dr. Weacoe to inquire if any money
could be made available to us, and Dr. oaher stated that vie
;ir. Phil Jacka, and the chairman of the Student Union ;.ctvitt
organization (which sponsored the festival) had met that day
and that assistance from the Univeraty of anas could not
be realized as they had already lct a comet ea ut
money on the festival.
Dr. Maher stated that many people at the L'r. r't7 cof
Kansaas thought that we were "crazy" for not going on and gc a
to Europe on our own. This statement has also been made to ma
by Ir. Phillip Jacka and 1lis Karen Indall. They see no rcan
why we cannot make the trip at our own expense. Thee state-
ments only point out agtn the un.warenes of thee people
as to what is involve, in trnnsoprtir a Zni ical crOu'. h~p
sem to think that we can carry our instrme-nts on our bcc-
and travel across Europe playing for nothing. one of us ar.
wealthy, by any measure, and we just oarct afford ouch a trip.
Each of us is helping to pay for our college expenses. Trin -
porting our instruments, maintaining a wardrobe (we do not he
Levi's and sweatshirts as some folk music g-oupS do), and the
other expenses just could not be met. A travelling musical
group is not the came as a group of oamera-clickin tourietc.
The responsibilities are much greater. For one thi, Americrr
jazz musicians are very highly regarded in .rope an. the
impress ion we would make, good or bad, would indeed - ..
."e oui3 'ant to :- only t.he . t 'I
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Breeden, Leon. [Leon Breeden Scrapbook: 1964], book, 1964~; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc282606/m1/89/: accessed April 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Music Library.