Ella in Rome: The Birthday Concert
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ella in Rome:The Birthday Concert | ||
 |
||
| Live album by Ella Fitzgerald | ||
| Released | 1958 | |
| Recorded | April 25, 1958 | |
| Genre | Jazz | |
| Length | 60:48 | |
| Label | Verve Records | |
| Producer(s) | Norman Granz | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ella Fitzgerald chronology | ||
| Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook (1958) |
Ella in Rome (1958) |
Get Happy! (1959) |
Ella in Rome: The Birthday Concert is a 1958 (see 1958 in music) album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with a trio led by the pianist Lou Levy, and also featuring the Oscar Peterson trio.
The album was recorded on Ella's 41st birthday, (though people thought her to be 40 at the time) and considered one of Ella's greatest live recordings, alongside her more famous concert in Berlin two years later (Ella in Berlin), which earned her a Grammy award. In 1993, Fitzgerald biographer Stuart Nicholson wrote, "Perhaps more than any of her live albums, Ella in Rome is a celebration of the joy of music-making, with Ella’s voice the perfect instrument to express that joy."[1] The New York Times declared it "an album that stands beside her songbook collections as a treasure for the ages."[2]
This album's notoriety derives partly from the fact that it was discovered in the vaults of the Verve label in 1988, and released on CD that year; before this, no one had known that this recording had existed.
Pianist Levy attested to that fact, saying, "I didn’t even know they recorded Ella in Rome, I really didn’t. When they put it out and I got a copy of the record, I thought, ‘God! we were swinging our cans off.’ It was just great! So much spirit and drive on it. You could never get it if you went into a studio.”[1] Upon its release in 1988, the album went straight to No. 1 on the Billboard jazz charts.
Ella is at the peak of her vocal talents in the 1958 recording, and a rare event can be witnessed on the last track, "Stompin' at the Savoy", in which Ella invites one of her accompanists to solo. Her inclusion of the WC Handy classic "St. Louis Blues", complete with "sublimely ferocious" scat singing,[2] is in reference to the film of the same name that she had appeared in that year. Of another song on the album, Nicholson wrote, "It is tempting to put the Rome version of "I Loves You Porgy" among the very best Ella Fitzgerald on record," citing it as evidence that Fitzgerald could, indeed, emotionally "internalize" a song.[1]
[edit] Track listing
- "Introduction" (In Italian) (Norman Granz) – 0:22
- “St. Louis Blues” (W.C Handy) – 5:57
- “These Foolish Things” (Harry Link, Holt Marvell, Jack Strachey) – 3:28
- “Just Squeeze Me” (But Don't Tease Me) (Duke Ellington, Lee Gaines) – 3:05
- “Angel Eyes” (Earl Brent, Matt Dennis) – 3:37
- “That Old Black Magic” (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) – 3:38
- “Just One of Those Things” (Cole Porter) – 3:39
- “I Loves You, Porgy” (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Dubose Heyward) – 4:56
- “It's All Right With Me” (Cole Porter) – 2:37
- “I Can't Give You Anything But Love” (Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh) – 3:26
- Introduction (In Italian) (Norman Granz) – 0:57
- “When You're Smiling” (The Whole World Smiles With You) (Mark Fisher, Joe Goodwin, Larry Shay) – 1:40
- “A Foggy Day” (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 3:09
- “Midnight Sun” (Sonny Burke, Lionel Hampton, Johnny Mercer) – 3:40
- “The Lady Is a Tramp” (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 2:46
- “Sophisticated Lady” (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Mitchell Parish) – 3:58
- “Caravan” (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Juan Tizol) – 2:43
- “Stompin' at the Savoy” (Benny Goodman, Andy Razaf, Edgar Sampson, Chick Webb) – 7:10
[edit] Personnel
Recorded April 25, 1958, Rome, Italy:
- Ella Fitzgerald - Vocals
- Lou Levy - Piano
- Max Bennett - Bass
- Gus Johnson - Drums
- Herb Ellis - Guitar
- The Oscar Peterson Trio (Track 18)
- Oscar Peterson - Piano
- Ray Brown - Bass
