The Jim Cullum Jazz Band at JFK International Airport preparing to board a 7-hour flight for Moscow on April 4, 2007. L. to R.: Jim Turner, Jim Cullum, Don Mopsick, Howard Elkins, Ron Hockett, Mike Waskiewicz.

Mike and Jim in Red Square, Moscow. Mike had just bought the hat from a street vendor.

The Moscow Ragtime Band played in the entrance foyer of the House of Music before our concert. Band members "sat in" with the JCJB at the conclusion of the concert.

The JCJB taking bows following their performance at the House of Music, Moscow Performing Arts Center.

The Philharmonic Hall in Perm.

Don getting to know the bass provided for him in Perm. Since he did not travel with his personal instrument, bass fiddles were provided for him at each concert venue by the Philharmonic Societies. Their quality varied from excellent to poor, and each one took some getting used to. This was a good one.

Jim with admirers backstage after the concert in Chita.

Howard contemplating the Siberian landscape from his compartment. There was no dining car or other public areas on the train.

One of our 3 sleeping compartments, ready to receive its occupants for the evening.

At one of our stops along the way, Ron took this shot out the window. A church bell ringer.

Eda, our attendant, bids us farewell after a 45-hour journey through Siberia and a slice of Kazakhstan, almost directly after which we played a concert in Ufa.

Valeri and Jim play a duet in Yakaterinburg.

Votive candles at a church service in Yekaterinburg.

We took this 9-passenger plane from Ufa to Magnitogorsk. The attendant told us that photography was forbidden.

Landscape of Magnitogorsk, one of the most polluted places on earth. In WWII, the steel produced in the mills here was used to build the tanks that defeated Hitler. The Hotel Asia, where we stayed, is at the right.

Hotel Russ, on the Baltic Sea in Svetlogorsk, where we stayed on our day off before concluding the tour the next day with a concert in Tula.