Customer Reviews

Best of the Concert Years: Trios & Quartets

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Luckily I attended the concert that was taped at the Santa Monica Civic in 1972 where this brillant collection starts and Ella Fitzgerald was at her peak in every way with the incomparable Tommy Flanagan on piano and from Marvin Gaye's classic "What's Going On" (which is not on this collection) to Cole Porter's "Night And Day", Ella is clearly in peak form going from soft and tender to the thrilling heights of her wonderous voice with no apparent effort!!! "Night And Day" has never sounded this incredibly expansive and is a thrilling ride on a voice unlike any other and is a reason alone for getting this great collection as it is one of Ella's shining moments for all time as is "Little White Lies" from the same great concert that is Ella at her sublime best. Next is a hypnotic Ella in Tokyo back in 1953 weaving her magical spell on the Billie Holiday "Body And Soul" making it a heavenly listening experience. "Why Don't You Do Right?" is surprisingly funky and "Oh Lady, Be Good" is a wildly rhythmic version of this classic being very loose and soulful. A beautifully earthy "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) is a glorious vocal and followed by a high-octane "How High The Moon" then its torch time with a gorgeous "My Funny Valentine" which features no less than Herb Ellis on guitar and Ray Brown on Bass!!! Off to New York in 1967 with the Jimmy Jones Trio, "It's Only A Paper Moon" is another up-tempo amazing cooker while "Daydream" expores in a haunting fashion every great facet of this legendary singers miraculous voice in a unique way that is memorable. Bluesy and soulful on "If I Could Be With You", Ella finishes her New York set with a loose and cooking "Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea" where her scatting illustrates why it is legendary and beyond compare! Closing this satisfying collection is a winning set from Tokyo in 1983, and "Willow Weep For Me" is extraordinary with Ella giving this classic a masterful reading that is thrilling while a swinging "All Of Me" features a loose and soulful Ella taking scatting to new and extraordinary heights! "Blue Moon" is rich and mellow flowing into the enchanting "They Can't Take That Away From Me" then closing with a superb "'Round Midnight" which is a rewarding finale to a spectacular collection of classics with Ella at her peak. Bravo Ella and we miss you alot but do not miss this sampler concert collection as it contains some of Ella's greatest performances!

This is a complilation of Ella's better stage performances between 1953 and '83, so automatically, one knows that it is mostly uptempo stuff, with a lot of scatting. If you prefer Ella doing ballads, try the "Songbook" series, or another of her multitude of studio albums. On this CD, we get 66 minutes and 17 tracks. For the price, it is a fine choice, although my personal preference is for her "Ella In Berlin" album. I wonder why the producers did not assemble these songs in chronological order, or even reverse chronology? Instead, we begin with two tracks from a 1972 date in California, when Ella was backed by the Tommy Flanagan trio. Then we get six songs from a Tokyo concert in 1953, followed by four tunes recorded in New York in 1967. The concluding segment is a group of five selections, again from Tokyo, but in 1983. Some wonderful lyrics are offered here: Night and Day, Little White Lies, Body and Soul, How High the Moon, My Funny Valentine, Paper Moon, Blue Moon, All of Me, and Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight. I only knock off one star due to the fact that hearing Ella do a full concert in one or two nights, as with "The Complete Ella in Berlin" has more emotional thrill to it than does listening to her voice age 30 years and her accompaniment change so much within only an hour's time. But this is Ella, after all, and most of the recordings available of her in the '50's and 60's are quite worthwhile.

This single volume contains four sessions of 2-6 tunes each extracted from Ella's Norman Granz-sponsored Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts spanning the three decades 1953 to 1983. Newcomers will hear Ella delivering characteristically strong and confident if not jaw-dropping performances of her signature tunes like "How High the Moon" and "Lady Be Good" whereas collectors will no doubt be all too familiar with the routine, anticipating each phrase, noting subtle variations here and there. Far from the most "essential" Ella concertizing, it's "representative" of her work during these three decades.

Experienced listeners and Ella fans will no doubt enjoy the opportunity to compare Ella at her peak (in the '50s, 60's, 70's) and slightly beyond it (by the early to mid-80's the voice, though the musicianship and range remained intact, was beginning to evidence some of the wavering--not yet a wobble--that became more noticeable as the decade wore on). It's also instructive to compare her accompanists--three renowned pianists and one (Raymond Tunia) virtual unknown. Tommy Flanagan, a major jazz artist in his own right (the pianist on Coltrane's seminal "Giant Steps"), went from Tony Bennett to a ten-year tenure with Ella (1968-1978). He accompanies on the album's first two tracks--"Night and Day" and "Little White Lies"--which are perhaps the freshest, most vital performances on the entire disc, especially for listeners who may have missed the original recording ("At the Santa Monica Civic, '72").

As good as Flanagan is, Jimmy Jones is an "accompanist's accompanist," a musician whose praises were always sung loudest, not only by Ella but by Sarah Vaughan and Nancy Wilson. His touch, his rich voicings, and his placement of chords from the four tunes extracted from the 1967 recording ("Greatest Jazz Concert in the World," Pablo) demonstrate, even under less than optimal audio conditions, why his work was such an asset to America's greatest jazz vocalists, all but assuring a successful musical result.

Paul Smith is no doubt the virtuoso pianist of the group, a brilliant player whose main challenge as an accompanist was not to allow his prodigious technique to overwhelm the featured artist.. Small chance of Smith outshining Ella (who used him regularly), but the five numbers he shares with her to close out this sampler disc are not only her weakest vocally but the most poorly recorded (from "Return to Happiness: Tokyo, 1983"). Ella's voice, in part due to bad mixing and misguided attempts to "enhance" the sound of the original release, is at times grating, while the rhythm section lacks presence, definition and clarity.

As good as parts of this Granz-produced "patchwork" are, there are also moments that an Ella fan would be unlikely to use in support of her claim to the #1 spot among all jazz singers. Ella was always exceptional, but some recordings might be considered more indispensable than others. For starters, look at the 20 Songbooks, each devoted to a different composer. Also, the delightful Ella-Louis meetings and the session with pianist Ellis Larkins. Then there's the early '60s Paris Concert featuring her in rare form with the Duke Ellington band. And rather than the JATP chestnuts from the present collection, try "Ella at the Opera House" (Chicago), the "Rome Concert" and, especially, the frequently acclaimed "Mack the Knife Concert," recorded in Berlin. Finally, there's "Blu-Ella," a California concert in which she calls Ellington's "C-Jam Blues" and proceeds to "take on" a cast of major jazz all-stars (Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Stan Getz, Al Grey, Sweets Edison, Roy Eldridge). It's an old-fashioned "cutting contest" and Ella, moreover, proceeds to demolish each challenger, one at a time, pitting her formidable instrument and superlative musicianship against their respective instruments. As musicians would say about Ella's singing, "That lady can blow!"

this is one of my all-time favorite "ella" cd's. it's a "must-have" for all serious "ella" lovers!