These cosy dates come from a Los Angeles club called the Crescendo in 1961 and 1962, two of Ella's peak years. Only one of the pristine tracks has ever been released. Why did Verve take nearly half a century to put out this treasure?
It's a case of more profitable material, a wealth of studio recordings, crowding out excellent performances that could have been a hit originally. Alas, producer Norman Granz gave them short shrift: a single poorly-selected and poorly-mastered album that flopped commercially.
The tapes sank into the vaults, not to be unearthed until jazz researcher Phil Schaap dug into the archives in 1988. He found 14 hours of California recordings made over 12 days, along with unheard live sets recorded in Rome and Chicago in 1958. At that point, Verve released a single CD, "Ella in Rome," which was a huge success, but then the label got busy with rereleases of her songbook series.
Finally Richard Seidel, the producer of this boxed set, listened to the tapes and decided to assemble four CDs containing 76 songs both swinging and sentimental. Ella is a joy throughout: creative and playful in her phrasing and scatting, by turns relaxed and spirited in her mood. She even succeeds at the blues, a form for which she was not particularly known.
What are you waiting for? This is a glorious find and an essential acquisition for the Fitzgerald fan.
CD1
01 - Introduction
02 - Lover Come Back To Me
03 - Too Close For Comfort
04 - Little White Lies
05 - On The Sunny Side Of The Street
06 - Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive
07 - Baby, Won't You Please Come Home
08 - I Found A New Baby
09 - On A Slow Boat To China
10 - My Heart Belongs To Daddy
11 - Perdido
12 - I've Got A Crush On You
13 - But Not For Me
14 - You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me
15 - Across The Alley From The Alamo
16 - I'm Glad There Is You
17 - 'Round Midnight
18 - Take The 'A' Train
19 - Mr. Paganini
CD2
01 - Nice Work If You Can Get It
02 - I Can't Get Started
03 - Give Me The Simple Life
04 - Caravan
05 - One For My Baby
06 - Lorelei
07 - A-Tisket, A-Tasket
08 - Witchcraft
09 - Gone With The Wind
10 - Happiness Is Just A Thing Called Joe
11 - It's De-Lovely
12 - The Lady Is A Tramp
13 - That Old Black Magic
14 - Lullaby Of Birdland
15 - Ella Introduces The Band
16 - Imagination
17 - Blue Moon
18 - Joe Williams' Blues
CD3
01 - The Lady's In Love With You
02 - Love Is Here To Stay
03 - Come Rain Or Come Shine
04 - Anything Goes
05 - This Could Be The Start Of Something Big
06 - Candy
07 - Little Girl Blue
08 - You're Driving Me Crazy
09 - It's All Right With Me
10 - Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don't Tease Me)
11 - 'S Wonderful
12 - How High The Moon
13 - Deep Purple
14 - In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
15 - Mack The Knife
16 - Exactly Like You
17 - Rock It For Me
18 - Stompin' At The Savoy
19 - Love For Sale
20 - St. Louis Blues
CD4
01 - All Of Me
02 - Hard Hearted Hannah
03 - Broadway
04 - My Kind Of Boy
05 - It Had To Be You
06 - C'est Magnifique
07 - How Long Has This Been Going On
08 - When Your Lover Has Gone
09 - Taking A Chance On Love
10 - Good Morning Heartache
11 - Clap Hands! Here Comes Charlie!
12 - Hallelujah I Love Him So
13 - Angel Eyes
14 - Ol' Man Mose
15 - Teach Me Tonight
16 - Too Darn Hot Ella's Twist
17 - Too Darn Hot
18 - Bewitched
19 - Bill Bailey
20 - Bill Bailey (Reprise)
CD’s 1 & 2
CD’s 3 & 4
COMPLETE BOX SET
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