Ella Fitzgerald
Twelve Nights In Hollywood
Verve Records
www.vervemusicgroup.com
By George W. Harris

Ella Fitzgerald put out a TON of in concert recordings from 58-65; her
61 “Live At The Crescendo” was overlooked when it first came out, but
since has been receiving its due appreciation, if for nothing else than
Ella’s 7 minute scat on “A Train.” On this 4 disc set, Verve has put
out all of the available music not on the original release from that May series of gigs at the Sunset Blvd club with Lou Levy/p, Herb Ellis/g, Wifred Middlebrooks/g and Gus Johnson/dr, as well as a set of 62 evenings with Paul Smith/p, Stan Levey/dr and Middlebrooks.

Ella was in the prime of her prime here, swinging like a jack hammer
thrower on “Perdido” and “Hard Headed Hanna” or Waterford Crystal pure
on the riveting “Angel Eyes.” The band is air tight-there’s essentially no soloing between the musicians, as Ella and company snap out concise song after song. And entertainment? This is classic old school charm, with Ella joking, cavorting and ad libbing between, before and after the songs. She does a run through of “Joe Williams Blues” that goes from “Roll ‘em Pete” to bebop to beer commercials and 5 level whitewater rafting scat that is simply mind swirling. There’s not a repeated song here, let alone note on this cache of gold-she was in the midst of her “Songbook” series, so plenty of Porter, Arlen, Hart and Gershwin abound. For variety, an improvised and hilarious “Candy” and “Good Morning Heartache” are rarities in the Fitzgerald songbook, while “Round Midnight,” “It Had T Be You” and others show up here for the first time, making this set even more worthwhile. It’s a limited edition set, so get it while the getting’s
good. After absorbing this 4 hours of vocal virtuosity, you’ll wonder why you ever waste time listening to any other singer, especially with the dearth of today’s talent with the glut of leggy lounge lizards. Essential Ella (isn’t that a redundancy?).