Ella Fitzgerald is often cited as inspiration by today’s female pop singers. The legendary jazz singer fought color boundaries and stereotype to become one of the most respected performers of all time.
What I often find surprise is how material is lost and then found. In this particular case the BBC has stumbled upon some rare recordings. Is this a matter of bad housekeeping? Could it be tapes misplaced? Aren’t these things chronicled or filed in some sort of order? A trend seems to be ‘finding’ ‘lost’ performances. Its odd but a windfall for fans who hunger for more from classic artists who are no longer with us.
This body of work is from 1965-1977 and (of course) has been ‘digitally remastered for maximum visual and audio clarity). I have often wondered how engineers can improve on old recordings when the originals are unclear- how on Earth do you clean it up without losing something or adding tone that wasn’t there?
The DVD contains four full-length shows including 4 songs, a pair of 1965 TV appearances, Ella Sings and Show Of The Week, a scintillating 1974 concert at the fabled London jazz club Ronnie Scott’s and a 1977 set from the Montreux Jazz Festival. The 17-song CD collects highlights of Ella’s work from the BBC archives.
Track List:
CD
◾The Lady is a Tramp
◾Mack the Knife
◾Manhattan
◾Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye
◾That Old Black Magic
◾Don’t Rain on My Parade
◾Misty
◾Sweet Georgia Brown
◾Good Morning Heartache
◾Goody Goody
◾Just A-Sittin’ and A-Rockin’
◾Cheek to Cheek
◾Here’s That Rainy Day
◾The Girl From Ipanema
◾St. Louis Blues
◾Somethings Gotta Give
◾Too Marvelous For Words
◾Angel Eyes
DVD
◾Show of the Week: Ella Fitzgerald Swings (1965)◾Goody Goody
◾Just A-Sittin’ and a Rockin’
◾Cheek to Cheek
◾Here’s That Rainy Day
◾The Girl From Ipanema
◾St. Louis Blues
◾Take the ‘A’ Train
◾Ella Fitzgerald Sings (1965)◾Somethings Gotta Give
◾Too Marvelous For Words
◾Angel Eyes
◾Them There Eyes
◾The Lady is a Tramp
◾Don’t Rain on My Parade
◾Body and Soul
◾Keeping Out of Mischief Now
◾Misty
◾Mack the Knife
◾Manhattan
◾Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye
◾That Old Black Magic
◾Omnibus Presents: Ella Fitzgerald at Ronnie Scott’s (1974)◾Sweet Georgia Brown
◾Good Morning Heartache
◾The Man I Love
◾It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)
◾The Very Thought of You
◾The Girl From Ipanema
◾Swingin’ the Blues
◾Jazz From Montreux (1977)◾Too Close For Comfort
◾I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But the Blues
◾My Man
◾Day by Day
◾Ordinary Fool
◾One Note Samba
◾Come Rain or Come Shine
◾You Are the Sunshine Of My Life