Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife

Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife
Live album by Ella Fitzgerald
Released 1960
Recorded February 13, 1960, at the Deutschlandhalle, Berlin
Genre Vocal jazz
Length 49:48
Label Verve
Producer Norman Granz
Ella Fitzgerald chronology
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook
(1959)Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook1959		 Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife
(1960)		 Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
(1960)Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas1960
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[2]

Ella in Berlin is a 1960 live album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. This album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance." [3]

One of Fitzgerald's most acclaimed live performances, at this concert in Berlin, Fitzgerald improvised lyrics for "Mack the Knife" after forgetting the original lyrics. In recognition of this, she received the Best Female Vocal Performance (Single) and the Best Vocal Performance, Female (Album) at the 3rd Annual Grammy Awards.

During her Scat solo on "How High the Moon", Fitzgerald quotes the Charlie Parker composition "Ornithology", which is in fact based on the chord changes for "How High the Moon", as a springboard for her own scat improvisation. This recording of "How High the Moon" is considered one of Fitzgerald's best scat solos, if not one of the best in jazz.

Track listing

Original Verve release from 1960 Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife on MG VS-64041; featuring 9 tracks.[4]

Side One:

  1. "Gone with the Wind" (Herb Magidson, Allie Wrubel) – 2:25
  2. "Misty" (Johnny Burke, Erroll Garner) – 2:38
  3. "The Lady Is a Tramp" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 2:40
  4. "The Man I Love" (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) – 3:42
  5. "Summertime" (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin, DuBose Heyward) – 3:02

Side Two:

  1. "Too Darn Hot" (Cole Porter) – 3:17
  2. "Lorelei" (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) – 3:27
  3. "Mack the Knife" (Marc Blitzstein, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) – 4:39
  4. "How High the Moon" (Nancy Hamilton, Morgan Lewis) – 6:58

CD track listing

Verve re-issue from 1993 The Complete Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife on Verve 314 519 564-2; featuring 13 vocal performances.

The 1993 re-issue, and all later releases, include 4 bonus tracks. Tracks 1 and 2 were recorded at the Berlin concert in January 1960 and had been rediscovered on a reel-to-reel tape of the initially recorded for radio broadcast. Tracks 7 and 8 were mistakenly identified as being part of the live recording made from the concert, both tracks had appeared on a Dutch pressing of the album in 1960. The two performances had actually been recorded in August 1956 and previously released on the 2-LP set Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl on Verve MG V 8231-2. The mistake was discovered post-production of this CD release.[5]

  1. Setting up the Stage – 0:20
  2. "That Old Black Magic" (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) – 3:51
  3. "Our Love Is Here to Stay" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 3:19
  4. "Gone with the Wind" (Herb Magidson, Allie Wrubel) – 2:25
  5. "Misty" (Johnny Burke, Erroll Garner) – 2:38
  6. Applause and Fanfare Interlude – 0:19
  7. "The Lady Is a Tramp" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 2:40
  8. Fanfare and Announcement – 0:28
  9. "The Man I Love" (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) – 3:42
  10. "Love for Sale" - Recorded in August 1956 (Cole Porter) – 2:57
  11. "Just One of Those Things" - Recorded in August 1956 (Porter) – 3:53
  12. "Summertime" (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin, DuBose Heyward) – 3:02
  13. "Too Darn Hot" (Porter) – 3:17
  14. Applause and Fanfare Interlude – 0:24
  15. "Lorelei" (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) – 3:27
  16. "Mack the Knife" (Marc Blitzstein, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) – 4:39
  17. Fanfare and Announcement – 0:23
  18. "How High the Moon" (Nancy Hamilton, Morgan Lewis) – 6:58
  19. Applause and Closing Fanfare – 1:06

Personnel

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife ". Allmusic. All Media Guide. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  2. ↑ Swenson, J. (Editor) (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 78. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  3. ↑ "Grammy Hall of Fame Database". Grammy.org. Archived from the original on 2011-01-22. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  4. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/mack-the-knife-ella-in-berlin-main-entry-r858902
  5. ↑ Sleeve notes; Phil Schaap (1993) The Complete Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife on Verve 314 519 564-2
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