Ella at the Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook

TRADITIONAL JAZZ VOCALS

Ella Fitzgerald’s recorded work includes much of the Great American Songbook; this includes famous studio albums covering the songs of the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Rogers & Hart, and Duke Ellington. In 1958 she released “Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book.” Now we get a previously unreleased live concert with 15 of those songs, recorded in August 1958 with orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl.

FCC clean (of course)

1 mid-tempo & swinging; a past affair has left pleasant memories; a bit a scat singing (2:15)
2 * slow ballad; warm singing with lush strings and a nice trombone solo; no scat (3:26)
3 * slow dance number / love song; restrained acc’mt lets Ella’s gorgeous voice star (3:07)
4 ** mid-fast; a fun tune with brash horns in intro & bridge; play this on a hot day (2:01)
5 * slow & somber; a wife & mother reflects on her husband’s recent lynching; compare this to Ethel Waters’s famous, much sparser version (3:13)
6 ** mid-tempo & swinging; wonderful, joyous version of a classic (3:26)
7 very slow; short lullaby with harp accompaniment; skip it (1:52)
8 mid-tempo; this song is so associated with Fred Astaire it seems out of place (2:46)
9 * mid-fast; a bouncing & spirited version of a standard; play this in December (3:07)
10 very slow, a bit dreary; the singer struggles with her guilt of an illicit meeting (4:01)
11 slow intro then mid-tempo; a nice give and take with the band (2:50)
12 slow first verse, then mid-tempo & swinging; then slow again; ok but not great (3:16)
13 mid-tempo; this song wasn’t always a cliché, but… (2:02)
14 ** mid-tempo; a fun, swing era version of “dance like you just don’t care” (2:22)
15 *** mid-fast & very spirited; the finale & highlight; brass section mimics a Nola marching band; Ella’s melodic improvisations & bits of scat singing are delightful (3:02)