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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
In Case You Were Wondering.... Ella Fitzgerald, Live in Belgium and Sweden. A Critical Review
24 Nov 2009
Format:DVD
In case you were wondering, Who is the greatest female vocalist of the 20th century? Rest
assured, this disc makes it abundantly clear that distinction belongs to the First Lady of Song, The Grand Dame, herself.
Recently, I had received an advanced copy of a new (and, wonderful) biography of Louis Armstrong Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong. It was time that I unearthed my collection of Louis Armstrong, including my prized, MoFi edition of Ella and Louis Again. As I was working my way through the chapters, I decided to see if I could dig up some older Louie on YouTube. This was when I came across a clip of Ella singing an explosive rendition of "Mack The Knife" live. I got chills when I first saw it; it was that breathtaking.
The clip came from the dvd that I now hold in my hand, Jazz Icons: Ella Fitzgerald Live in '57 and '63. It's a dual-concert package with a 16-page booklet with two (2) essays chronicling Ella as she travels through Europe and Verve decision in recording her venues. The introductory essay, however, is a cute backstage recollection by her son, Ray Brown, Jr., as a child on the road with his parents.
The first concert takes place in a concert hall in Belgium concert hall on June 6, 1957. The
b/w film footage looks pristine. No grainy, inaudible picture, here. The audio fidelity is
crisp and you hear the full breathe of Ella's octave range, and even the echo of her voice
when the mic is too close. Multi-camera angles catch clear shots of the audience members
seated in the stadium layout.
Accompanied by Don Abney (piano); Jo Jones (drums) Herb Ellis (guitar) and her ex-husband,
Ray Brown (bass), this set was originally broadcast on television. She performed
the following nine (9) songs in order. There are no mediocre selections here.
Angel Eyes
Lullaby of Birdland
Love For Sale
Tenderly
April in Paris
Just One of Those Things
Roll `Em, Pete
I Can't Give You Anything But Love
It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing!)
The second concert, six (6) years later takes place in Stockholm, Sweden in 1963. Unlike
the Belgium concert, this was shot on videotape and before a studio audience. The picture
is considerably more robust, but not significantly higher in fidelity.
Accompanied by Tommy Flanagan (piano), Jim Hughart (bass), Gus Johnson (drums), and
Les Spann (Guitar) the set includes the following numbers:
No Moon At All
Just One of Those Things
Runnin' Wild
Georgia On My Mind
Desafinado
Hallelujah, I Love Her (Him) So
Mack The Knife.
I can't over-recommend this d.v.d. If you love Ella; If you remember what it means to see
a band in a small venue where the setting is made for a intimate meeting between
performer(s) and fans; If you love the jazz standards performed by the 20th Century's Best
Female Vocalist, then this dvd should be yours.
assured, this disc makes it abundantly clear that distinction belongs to the First Lady of Song, The Grand Dame, herself.
Recently, I had received an advanced copy of a new (and, wonderful) biography of Louis Armstrong Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong. It was time that I unearthed my collection of Louis Armstrong, including my prized, MoFi edition of Ella and Louis Again. As I was working my way through the chapters, I decided to see if I could dig up some older Louie on YouTube. This was when I came across a clip of Ella singing an explosive rendition of "Mack The Knife" live. I got chills when I first saw it; it was that breathtaking.
The clip came from the dvd that I now hold in my hand, Jazz Icons: Ella Fitzgerald Live in '57 and '63. It's a dual-concert package with a 16-page booklet with two (2) essays chronicling Ella as she travels through Europe and Verve decision in recording her venues. The introductory essay, however, is a cute backstage recollection by her son, Ray Brown, Jr., as a child on the road with his parents.
The first concert takes place in a concert hall in Belgium concert hall on June 6, 1957. The
b/w film footage looks pristine. No grainy, inaudible picture, here. The audio fidelity is
crisp and you hear the full breathe of Ella's octave range, and even the echo of her voice
when the mic is too close. Multi-camera angles catch clear shots of the audience members
seated in the stadium layout.
Accompanied by Don Abney (piano); Jo Jones (drums) Herb Ellis (guitar) and her ex-husband,
Ray Brown (bass), this set was originally broadcast on television. She performed
the following nine (9) songs in order. There are no mediocre selections here.
Angel Eyes
Lullaby of Birdland
Love For Sale
Tenderly
April in Paris
Just One of Those Things
Roll `Em, Pete
I Can't Give You Anything But Love
It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing!)
The second concert, six (6) years later takes place in Stockholm, Sweden in 1963. Unlike
the Belgium concert, this was shot on videotape and before a studio audience. The picture
is considerably more robust, but not significantly higher in fidelity.
Accompanied by Tommy Flanagan (piano), Jim Hughart (bass), Gus Johnson (drums), and
Les Spann (Guitar) the set includes the following numbers:
No Moon At All
Just One of Those Things
Runnin' Wild
Georgia On My Mind
Desafinado
Hallelujah, I Love Her (Him) So
Mack The Knife.
I can't over-recommend this d.v.d. If you love Ella; If you remember what it means to see
a band in a small venue where the setting is made for a intimate meeting between
performer(s) and fans; If you love the jazz standards performed by the 20th Century's Best
Female Vocalist, then this dvd should be yours.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The first part of the concert, in spite of shoddy camera work, shows Ella at the peak of her powers, although she is not as inspired as one would expect from the time and the company she keeps... That is, until the last song, when Oscar Peterson replaces Don Abney on the piano and Roy "Little Jazz" Eldridge drop by to help out on Ellington's "It don't mean a thing..."... That song alone is the reason enough to buy the DVD although, as I said, the rest of the first concert is quite all right from the musical point of view...
But, the second performances (recorded in the Swedish TV studio) is actually better (in my humble opinion) - the accompaniment is also superb - with the ellegant but swinging Tommy Flanagan on the piano and the versatile Gus Johnson on drums - but it is Ella who tries harder and pushes her self more... She renders "Halleluyah I love her so" with no damage to her reputation and swings "Desafinado" in the way I've heard no one else.... Ella didn't buy that ellegant and restrained poetry of Bossa Nova; for her Antonio Carlos Jobim is just another reason to SWING!
p.s.
for hardcore fans - among the highlights are the close-ups of Ella in second set, Jo Jones looking very amused during the first set and Roy Eldridge, adjusting the microphone for Ella after his solo;
when she makes a dive in her neo-bop scatting, he cracks into appreciative laughter as if he didn't know she was prone to do that.
p.p.s.
of course - Ella's impersonations of Rose Murphy and Satchmo are not really amusing if you hear them on more than two albums but I don't mind some mediocre humour in the middle of a great musical recording ,
But, the second performances (recorded in the Swedish TV studio) is actually better (in my humble opinion) - the accompaniment is also superb - with the ellegant but swinging Tommy Flanagan on the piano and the versatile Gus Johnson on drums - but it is Ella who tries harder and pushes her self more... She renders "Halleluyah I love her so" with no damage to her reputation and swings "Desafinado" in the way I've heard no one else.... Ella didn't buy that ellegant and restrained poetry of Bossa Nova; for her Antonio Carlos Jobim is just another reason to SWING!
p.s.
for hardcore fans - among the highlights are the close-ups of Ella in second set, Jo Jones looking very amused during the first set and Roy Eldridge, adjusting the microphone for Ella after his solo;
when she makes a dive in her neo-bop scatting, he cracks into appreciative laughter as if he didn't know she was prone to do that.
p.p.s.
of course - Ella's impersonations of Rose Murphy and Satchmo are not really amusing if you hear them on more than two albums but I don't mind some mediocre humour in the middle of a great musical recording ,
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This DVD is a showcase for the abundant talents of Ella Fitzgerald. Although the camera work for the Belgium set is not all it could be the sound quality is excellent through out. The songs are rather short and for the first eight of the Belgium set there is, despite the fine rhythm section, no opportunity for the musicians to solo. Such is not the case on "It don't mean a thing" when fine solos are provided by Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis and Roy Eldridge. The camera work (in a studio) for the Sweden set is better and again the sound is very good. There is good piano work by Tommy Flanagan but the fine guitarist Les Spann has no opportunity to solo. The DVD ends with a spirited version of the classic "Mack the knife". This is a worthy purchase for any Ella Fitzgerald devotee and above all the DVD does give the listener an opporftunity to appreciate the singer's excellent diction- not a muffled word anywhere.
Trottman
Trottman
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