azerbaijani


SUBJECT: HOT CLUB OF COWTOWN WOWS AZERBAIJANI PUBLIC IN CONCERT TOUR Excerpt from an UNCLASSIFIED report issued November 14, 2006 by Elizabeth Murphy, US State Department, Baku, Azerbaijan 1. Summary: From standing room only concert halls to a traditional Azerbaijani wedding to intimate performances in regional libraries, western swing band the Hot Club of Cowtown’s lively, top-notch performances provided maximum return on a small financial investment by dazzling and delighting more than 3500 audience members during the nine-day Azerbaijan leg of the group’s recent PD-Baku organized Caucasus tour. Hundreds of thousands more Azerbaijanis enjoyed the group’s music through days of national news coverage of their visit, the first-ever nationwide tour by an American band. Bumpy roads, collapsing ceilings, and a particularly grueling schedule alike failed to dampen the spirits of this irrepressibly friendly group, which won praise from fans and journalists for its accessibility during their tour of rural Azerbaijan, including stops in both small towns and the important regional centers of Lenkaran, Sumgayit, and Mingachevir. The Hot Club of Cowtown’s exceptional musical and interpersonal talents make them exemplary American cultural ambassadors abroad. Post enthusiastically recommends that ECA/PE/C/CU consider booking the Hot Club of Cowtown on an extended international State Department tour. The enormous public relations benefit that we received from this [group’s tour] underscores the high value of PD cultural programming. 2. Audience and Venues: The Hot Club of Cowtown’s willingness to work with PD Baku on first-time Embassy-sponsored cultural programming outside of the capital city resulted in a spectacular, though demanding, 25-event program. Audience interest in Baku was strong, and during the group’s stay in the capital, the Hot Club gave two free public concerts (for groups of 50 and 250 respectively), an Ambassador-hosted concert for key cultural contacts (60 attendees), a performance for students and teachers in the Embassy-sponsored English-language microscholarship program, and a performance for the Embassy community. The group also gave an extremely well-received series of performances at 5 Baku public schools (2 primary, 3 secondary; 3 music magnet schools, 2 general public schools; 580 students in total) and a televised performance/jam session with members of an orphanage orchestra in the Baku suburb of Mardakan (250 audience members). 3. During a one-day trip to northern Azerbaijan, the group performed for 60 people at the Khachmaz regional library, 350 children in the village of Zerdabi, and 350 people at a public concert in the important industrial city of Sumgayit. The group then traveled south, performing in the villages of Babakhanli (150 concert attendees) and Chaxirli (150 attendees) en route to Lenkaran, the leading city in culturally and religiously conservative Azerbaijan. Journalists traveling with the group to Babakhanli and Chaxirli invited the group to start their stay in Lenkaran by attending a family wedding (200 guests), where the group’s performance and jam session with a traditional saz player was featured on two television stations and was still the source of buzz among journalists as far north as Baku some two weeks later. The success of other Lenkaran performances, including a regional library performance (50 attendees), an Office of Defense Cooperation-sponsored school opening (150 attendees), and a public performance at the Drama Theater (350 attendees), make Lenkaran a natural venue for future Embassy cultural programming – and resulted in the Hot Club of Cowtown’s induction into the city history museum. 4. Other events in southern and western Azerbaijan included performances at the regional libraries in Salyan (100 attendees), Kurdemir (150 attendees), and Mingechevir (70 attendees), as well as a public performance for 350 members of the public at the Mingechevir Drama Theater. (Programming in the second-largest city of Ganja was derailed by President Aliyev’s travel; Mingechevir was a last-minute addition to the program.) 3. Media Coverage: Thanks to the photogenic group’s patience and skill with reporters, and to a concentrated Embassy effort to involve the press in all stages of the visit, media coverage treated the Hot Club’s visit as a premier national-level cultural event. A fifteen-minute live performance and interview on Public TV’s popular morning program was perhaps the highlight of the Hot Club’s extensive media coverage. ATV and Lider TV also aired extensive nationwide coverage of the visit, including footage of the Lenkaran wedding. ANS TV sent both Baku and regional correspondents to cover certain events, and Space TV, AzTV, Lider, ANS, and iTV (Public TV) all broadcast at least some of the regional events in that region and sometimes nationwide. ANS, Lider, and Public TV all broadcast prominent pre-trip coverage, including footage of the Hot Club in performance and interviews with Embassy officials. Regional TV stations, particularly in Lenkaran, Zerdabi/Guba, and Mingechevir, covered events in their communities. Feature newspaper articles on the group’s performances appeared in Zerkalo, Exo, Express, and Azadliq, and news services widely distributed pictures and information about the program.

SUBJECT: HOT CLUB OF COWTOWN WOWS AZERBAIJANI PUBLIC IN CONCERT TOUR

Excerpt from an UNCLASSIFIED report issued November 14, 2006
by Elizabeth Murphy, US State Department, Baku, Azerbaijan

1. Summary: From standing room only concert halls to a traditional Azerbaijani wedding to intimate performances in regional libraries, western swing band the Hot Club of Cowtown’s lively, top-notch performances provided maximum return on a small financial investment by dazzling and delighting more than 3500 audience members during the nine-day Azerbaijan leg of the group’s recent PD-Baku organized Caucasus tour. Hundreds of thousands more Azerbaijanis enjoyed the group’s music through days of national news coverage of their visit, the first-ever nationwide tour by an American band. Bumpy roads, collapsing ceilings, and a particularly grueling schedule alike failed to dampen the spirits of this irrepressibly friendly group, which won praise from fans and journalists for its accessibility during their tour of rural Azerbaijan, including stops in both small towns and the important regional centers of Lenkaran, Sumgayit, and Mingachevir. The Hot Club of Cowtown’s exceptional musical and interpersonal talents make them exemplary American cultural ambassadors abroad. Post enthusiastically recommends that ECA/PE/C/CU consider booking the Hot Club of Cowtown on an extended international State Department tour. The enormous public relations benefit that we received from this [group’s tour] underscores the high value of PD cultural programming.

2. Audience and Venues: The Hot Club of Cowtown’s willingness to work with PD Baku on first-time Embassy-sponsored cultural programming outside of the capital city resulted in a spectacular, though demanding, 25-event program. Audience interest in Baku was strong, and during the group’s stay in the capital, the Hot Club gave two free public concerts (for groups of 50 and 250 respectively), an Ambassador-hosted concert for key cultural contacts (60 attendees), a performance for students and teachers in the Embassy-sponsored English-language microscholarship program, and a performance for the Embassy community. The group also gave an extremely well-received series of performances at 5 Baku public schools (2 primary, 3 secondary; 3 music magnet schools, 2 general public schools; 580 students in total) and a televised performance/jam session with members of an orphanage orchestra in the Baku suburb of Mardakan (250 audience members).

3. During a one-day trip to northern Azerbaijan, the group performed for 60 people at the Khachmaz regional library, 350 children in the village of Zerdabi, and 350 people at a public concert in the important industrial city of Sumgayit. The group then traveled south, performing in the villages of Babakhanli (150 concert attendees) and Chaxirli (150 attendees) en route to Lenkaran, the leading city in culturally and religiously conservative Azerbaijan. Journalists traveling with the group to Babakhanli and Chaxirli invited the group to start their stay in Lenkaran by attending a family wedding (200 guests), where the group’s performance and jam session with a traditional saz player was featured on two television stations and was still the source of buzz among journalists as far north as Baku some two weeks later. The success of other Lenkaran performances, including a regional library performance (50 attendees), an Office of Defense Cooperation-sponsored school opening (150 attendees), and a public performance at the Drama Theater (350 attendees), make Lenkaran a natural venue for future Embassy cultural programming – and resulted in the Hot Club of Cowtown’s induction into the city history museum.

4. Other events in southern and western Azerbaijan included performances at the regional libraries in Salyan (100 attendees), Kurdemir (150 attendees), and Mingechevir (70 attendees), as well as a public performance for 350 members of the public at the Mingechevir Drama Theater. (Programming in the second-largest city of Ganja was derailed by President Aliyev’s travel; Mingechevir was a last-minute addition to the program.)

3. Media Coverage: Thanks to the photogenic group’s patience and skill with reporters, and to a concentrated Embassy effort to involve the press in all stages of the visit, media coverage treated the Hot Club’s visit as a premier national-level cultural event. A fifteen-minute live performance and interview on Public TV’s popular morning program was perhaps the highlight of the Hot Club’s extensive media coverage. ATV and Lider TV also aired extensive nationwide coverage of the visit, including footage of the Lenkaran wedding. ANS TV sent both Baku and regional correspondents to cover certain events, and Space TV, AzTV, Lider, ANS, and iTV (Public TV) all broadcast at least some of the regional events in that region and sometimes nationwide. ANS, Lider, and Public TV all broadcast prominent pre-trip coverage, including footage of the Hot Club in performance and interviews with Embassy officials. Regional TV stations, particularly in Lenkaran, Zerdabi/Guba, and Mingechevir, covered events in their communities. Feature newspaper articles on the group’s performances appeared in Zerkalo, Exo, Express, and Azadliq, and news services widely distributed pictures and information about the program.