Description
“She (was) more famous, over a longer time span, than any other female singer.” _ Leonard Feather
Ella Fitzgerald’s extraordinary career saw collaborations with key figures in Big Band and jazz _ among others Chick Webb and Dizzy Gillespie, brought her a total of 13 Grammy Awards, and in 1987 she received the National Medal of Arts.
Her unique interpretations of jazz standards can be found on countless American Songbook albums. Ella’s enthusiasm about the then blossoming bossa nova and pop repertoire manifested itself on albums from the late ’60s. For this 1969 album, Verve label founder Norman Granz recorded the First Lady of Song live at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. He edited down the usual artist nightclub patter, audience conversation and applause _ leaving the essential and optimum performance.
Ella’s choice of tunes that night showed what she’d been listening to lately: “Hey Jude,” “This Girl’s In Love With You,” the “Sunshine Of Your Love” and so on.
The album boasts an impressive musical color spectrum through the compositions by John Lennon, Clapton and Antonio Carlos Jobim on the one hand and Big Band classics such as “Give Me The Simple Life” and “Old Devil Moon” on the other side. There are also rousing interpretations by the Ernie Heckscher Big Band and the Tommy Flanagan Trio. Captured on AAA vinyl is that euphoric evening of the concert series from the San Francisco Fairmont Hotel _ an analog time-traveling adventure in jazz nostalgia.
Side 1
1. Hey Jude
2. Sunshine Of Your Love
3. This Girl_s In Love With You
4. Watch What Happens
5. Alright, Okay, You Win
6. Give Me the Simple Life
Side 2
7. Useless Landscape
8. Old Devil Moon
9. Don_cha Go _Way Mad
10. A House Is Not a Home
11. Trouble Is a Man
12. Love You Madly
