Expanded Edition on Double LP!
TAS Rated 4.5/5 Music, 4/5 Sonics in the December 2018 Issue of The Absolute Sound!
Recorded on February 2, 1956 at Zardi's Jazzland in Hollywood, Ella At Zardi's features the entirety of the evening's two-set, 21-song performance, which captures an inspired Fitzgerald, backed by a stellar trio comprised of pianist Don Abney, bassist Vernon Alley & drummer Frank Capp, singing & swinging in front of an animated, adoring crowd, just days before shed go on to record the album that would catapult her to stardom.
It is now available on 2LP on black vinyl.
"Recorded by jazz impresario and Fitzgerald manager Norman Granz during the legendary singer's three-week sting in 1956 at Zardi's Jazzland, this archival 2LP vinyl set represents the singer's first live recording on Granz's newly created Verve Records. Ella is in an animated, playful, and typically swinging mood here, accompanied by her trio of pianist Don Abney, bassist Vernon Alley, and drummer Frank Capp. From gorgeous ballads like "Tenderly" and "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" to syncopated staples like "Why Don't You Do Right", "A Fine Romance", and Duke Ellington's "In A Mellow Tone" to the dramatic torch song "Cry Me A River", she casts her spell with perfect diction, flawless intonation, an unerring sense of time, and a natural sense of swing. She flaunts girlish charms on her 1938 hit with Chick Webb, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket", then showcases her remarkably inventive scat abandon on "How High the Moon" (a dazzling stream of consciousness flow that has her jumping from quotes from "Love In Bloom" to Charlie Parker's "Ornithology" to Duke's "Rockin' in Rhythm") and "Airmail Special". A spectacular showcase by the First Lady of Song." - Bill Milkowski, The Absolute Sound, December 2018
Features:
• Double LP
Musicians:
Ella Fitzgerald, vocals
Don Abney, piano
Vernon Alley, bass
Frank Capp, drums
Selections:
Album 1: First Set
Side A:
1. It All Depends On You
2. Tenderly
3. Why Don't You Do Right
4. Cry Me A River
5. In A Mellow Tone
Side B:
1. Joe Williams's Blues
2. A Fine Romance
3. How High The Moon
4. Gone With The Wind
5. Bernie's Tune
Album 2: Second Set
Side C:
1. 'S Wonderful
2. Glad To Be Unhappy
3. Lullaby Of Birdland
4. The Tender Trap
5. And The Angels Sing
6. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
Side D:
1. Little Boy (a.k.a. Little Girl)
2. A-Tisket, A-Tasket
3. My Heart Belongs To Daddy
4. Airmail Special
5. I've Got A Crush On You
TAS Rated 4.5/5 Music, 4/5 Sonics in the December 2018 Issue of The Absolute Sound!
Recorded on February 2, 1956 at Zardi's Jazzland in Hollywood, Ella At Zardi's features the entirety of the evening's two-set, 21-song performance, which captures an inspired Fitzgerald, backed by a stellar trio comprised of pianist Don Abney, bassist Vernon Alley & drummer Frank Capp, singing & swinging in front of an animated, adoring crowd, just days before shed go on to record the album that would catapult her to stardom.
It is now available on 2LP on black vinyl.
"Recorded by jazz impresario and Fitzgerald manager Norman Granz during the legendary singer's three-week sting in 1956 at Zardi's Jazzland, this archival 2LP vinyl set represents the singer's first live recording on Granz's newly created Verve Records. Ella is in an animated, playful, and typically swinging mood here, accompanied by her trio of pianist Don Abney, bassist Vernon Alley, and drummer Frank Capp. From gorgeous ballads like "Tenderly" and "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" to syncopated staples like "Why Don't You Do Right", "A Fine Romance", and Duke Ellington's "In A Mellow Tone" to the dramatic torch song "Cry Me A River", she casts her spell with perfect diction, flawless intonation, an unerring sense of time, and a natural sense of swing. She flaunts girlish charms on her 1938 hit with Chick Webb, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket", then showcases her remarkably inventive scat abandon on "How High the Moon" (a dazzling stream of consciousness flow that has her jumping from quotes from "Love In Bloom" to Charlie Parker's "Ornithology" to Duke's "Rockin' in Rhythm") and "Airmail Special". A spectacular showcase by the First Lady of Song." - Bill Milkowski, The Absolute Sound, December 2018
Features:
• Double LP
Musicians:
Ella Fitzgerald, vocals
Don Abney, piano
Vernon Alley, bass
Frank Capp, drums
Selections:
Album 1: First Set
Side A:
1. It All Depends On You
2. Tenderly
3. Why Don't You Do Right
4. Cry Me A River
5. In A Mellow Tone
Side B:
1. Joe Williams's Blues
2. A Fine Romance
3. How High The Moon
4. Gone With The Wind
5. Bernie's Tune
Album 2: Second Set
Side C:
1. 'S Wonderful
2. Glad To Be Unhappy
3. Lullaby Of Birdland
4. The Tender Trap
5. And The Angels Sing
6. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
Side D:
1. Little Boy (a.k.a. Little Girl)
2. A-Tisket, A-Tasket
3. My Heart Belongs To Daddy
4. Airmail Special
5. I've Got A Crush On You
