Newport Jazz Festival Live at Carnegie Hall [Live]

Ella Fitzgerald | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 18, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Live
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002AXF
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,687 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #11 in Music > Jazz > Swing Jazz > Vintage Dance Bands

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Opening Announcement by Eddie Barefield/Let's Get Together [#]

2. Stompin' at the Savoy [#]

3. A-Tisket, A-Tasket

4. Indian Summer

5. Smooth Sailing

6. Eddie Barefield Original [#]

7. Band Introductions/Let's Get Together [#]

8. Announcement by George Wein

9. You Turned the Tables on Me

10. Nice Work If You Can Get It

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. C Jam Blues

2. Introductions of Ella Fitzgerald by George Wein and Carmen McRae

3. I've Gotta Be Me

4. Down in the Depths [#]

5. Good Morning Heartache

6. What's Going On [#]

7. Miss Otis Regrets

8. Don't Worry 'Bout Me

9. These Foolish Things

10. Any Old Blues

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There are some gems here, October 31, 2001

By 

Stony (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Newport Jazz Festival Live at Carnegie Hall (Audio CD)

This a two-cd set, and despite the fact that the title makes you think it's all Ella, it's not. She sings a number or two at the beginning and then comes back for the second set of the evening. The rest of Disk 1 is a recreation of the Chick Webb band (where Ella got her start) and has some good moments. Disk 2 contains most of Ella's songs. Carmen MacRae gives Ella a warm introduction, and you can tell that they respected one another. There are some contemporary and pop songs that I enjoyed ("What's Going On?" by Marvin Gaye, for example) but that I can understand that a jazz purist would dislike. For me the reason to get this is her interpretation of "Good Morning Heartache." It's fabulous. I personally think it is as good as Billie's. It's much more musical than Billie's version, and yet Ella also brings out the ache and longing of the words. She is really passionate here, and the audience goes crazy at the end. I would have too, had I been there. Her performance is great. Ella sang this song in the studio in the early sixties, but this live version is by far the better. Her version of "Down in the Depths" here is quite good too. And she sings the Streisand standard "People" with an honesty, simplicity, and purity that would totally elude Barbra. If you love Ella, as I do, then I would tell you to buy this.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my Favorite Live Albums, January 26, 2004

By 

Rick Cornell "RC" (Reno, Nv USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Newport Jazz Festival Live at Carnegie Hall (Audio CD)

This is a wonderful live album. Recorded toward the end of Ella's career, by concert's end it is apparent that she has about lost her voice, but not the audience's adoration. The album showcases her in various settings: with the (obviously) reconstituted Chick Webb Orchestra, with Ellis Larkins, with Joe Pass and with Tommy Flanagan (of course); the album also has some nods to the Webb Orchestra, noteworthy for late-career blowing by "Lockjaw" Davis. Highlights: "Nice Work If You Can Get It," "Good Morning Heartache" (an intended and most worthy tribute to Lady Day), "Miss Otis Regrets," the first encore of "Some of these Days," and intended set-ender of Ella doing what she does best, scatting through "Lemon Drop." I loved this when it came out on l.p., 30 years ago, but I love the c.d. even more because it better captures the ambience of this "Lioness in Winter" concert. Highly recommended.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice overview of her career, February 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Newport Jazz Festival Live at Carnegie Hall (Audio CD)

This two-disk set catches Ella at the 1973 Newport Jazz Festival (in New York City) and offers a nice overview of her career. The event was billed as a tribute of sorts and fortunately the singer in very good voice right at the start of her Pablo years. The first disk features some big band sides by a reconstituted Chick Webb Orchestra and includes the inevitable "A-Tisket-A-Tasket." Ella reprises her duets with pianist Ellis Larkins on three tunes. The second disk is a typical Fitzgerald set with the Tommy Flanagan Quartet from this period of her career. Despite a couple of questionable tunes ("I Gotta Be Me" and "What's Going On"), Ella is in very good form throughout, especially on three duets with guitarist Joe Pass and when she goes away from the prepared playlist with "Any Old Blues." The highlight for jazz fans is the scat feature on "Lemon Drop." The adoring crowd welcomes Ella back for encores on "Some of These Days" and "People." The voice may wobble in spots, but the occasion and the obvious public affection for the First Lady of Song make the set an essential introduction to the later stage of her career.