Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald – Ella At Zardi’s (Live At Zardi’s/1956 – Remastered) (1956/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:07:30 minutes | 1,56 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Verve Reissues

A completely unreleased live album by the peerless Ella Fitzgerald, Ella At Zardi’s: Verve Records will close out their year-long celebration of jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald’s centennial with the ultimate present for her 100th birthday. Rescued from the vaults: ‘Ella At Zardi’s’ is the Verve Records’ first live recording, and is being heard for the first time anywhere. The two sets from the evening, in front of a lively crowd, was captured February 2, 1956, a few days before Ella began recording Verve’s first album, ‘Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book’.

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Ella Fitzgerald – Ella and Louis Again (1957/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 44:17 minutes | 741 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Verve Reissues

Ella and Louis Again is a studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, released in 1957 on Verve Records. It is the sequel to their 1956 album, Ella and Louis. In contrast to their previous collaboration, this album features seven solo vocal tracks by either Armstrong or Fitzgerald amongst its dozen duet tracks. It was reissued as part of a two-compact disc set in 1995, and in The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve in 1997. It was recorded at Capitol Studios.

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Ella Fitzgerald – Ella (1969/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 28:48 minutes | 996 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino/Warner Bros.

This nearly forgotten, adventurous record features Ella taking plenty of risks with modern music. She breaks outside the boundaries of established jazz, covering atypical selections such as “Yellow Man,” by Randy Newman and “Savoy Truffle” by The Beatles. This is the late 60’s Ella, natural, direct and in rare, uninhibited form.

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Ella Fitzgerald – Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie! (1962/1989)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 58:53 minutes | 2,30 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Verve Reissues

This early ’60s studio session captures Ella Fitzgerald moving toward the smaller, more pointedly jazz-inflected ensembles that would shape her career in her final decades.

Another typically wonderful reissue of Ella Fitzgerald in her prime, this set augments the original LP (which finds Ella joined by pianist Lou Levy, guitarist Herb Ellis, bassist Joe Mondragon, and drummer Stan Levey) with three previously unreleased selections from the same era (with Levey, bassist Wilfred Middlebrooks, and drummer Gus Johnson). Ella is in fine form on such numbers as “A Night in Tunisia,” an emotional “You’re My Thrill,” “Jersey Bounce,” “Clap Hands! Here Comes Charlie,” and an unissued “The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else).” Although not reaching the heights of her live performances, this is an excellent (and somewhat underrated) set.

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Ella Fitzgerald – At Newport (Deluxe) (1957/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:14:04 minutes | 966 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at Newport – “Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday in Newport”) is a joint live album by Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, released on the Verve Records label in 1958 under the studio number MGV-8234. The recordings were made on July 4, 5 and 6, 1957 at the Newport Jazz Festival.

The album includes songs performed by Fitzgerald (mainly compositions from her latest albums and, in particular, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook) and Holiday. In 2000, Verve re-released the recording in CD format, the new version also includes additional compositions performed by Carmen McRae.

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Ella Fitzgerald – 100 Essentials of Ella Fitzgerald (Mono Version) (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 05:54:29 minutes | 3,30 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BnF Collection

Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a “horn-like” improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.

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Ella Fitzgerald – Live At Montreux 1969 (2005/2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:04:18 minutes | 770 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mercury Studios

Eagle Eye Media’s Live in Montreux series continues with a travel through time to June 22, 1969, featuring a performance from The First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald. Featuring fully restored Black and White footage and remixed audio in 5.1 and DTS, this program presents a stunning performance from one of the most versatile jazz singers of all time.

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Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Johnny Mercer Song Book (1964/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 44:25 minutes | 975 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Verve

Recorded in 1964, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Song Book was recorded at Radio Recorders Studio 10-H in Los Angeles, California with Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra. The album was the only songbook collection Ella recorded that concentrates on the work of a lyricist instead of a composer. Riddle created wonderfully lush arrangements, and the album was Ella’s fifth and final collaboration with the conductor and arranger during her years on the Verve label.
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Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Song Book (1957/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 02:52:37 minutes | 8,19 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Verve Reissues

One of the benchmark records in jazz and in the Ella Fitzgerald catalog. The Duke Ellington Songbook features a wonderful selection interpreted splendidly by one of the all time great voices in music. It was the first of a series of recordings by the prolific pair. Ellington’s performances both at piano and directing orchestra are outstanding. This is beautifully balanced by the sweet and luscious delivery of Fitzgerald on the classics “Take The A Train,” “Solitude,” “I’m Just A Lucky So and So,” and “Caravan.” The album featured a number of legendary performers including Paul Gonsalves, Ben Webster, Ray Nance, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Billy Strayhorn, Barney Kessel, Dizzy Gillespie, Sam Woodyard and many more. The Duke Ellington Songbook is a true must have for any jazz fan.

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Ella Fitzgerald – Ella At The Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 42:44 minutes | 963 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Verve

While the 1960 live album Ella in Berlin: Mack The Knife will always be the peak of Ella Fitzgerald’s solo recording career, this exciting discovery is yet another example of her voice and interpretative drive being pushed to new heights by her audience. The great jazz singer’s other strength as a soloist when it came to recordings—other than her fine collaborations with Louis Armstrong, which are practically their own genre—are the songbook collections she made in the studio with Norman Granz for his Verve label. While they all have their strong points, and the Duke Ellington collection where he and his band back her is exceptional, the volumes dedicated to Cole Porter and Irving Berlin rang true and sold big numbers, and it was music from those two collections that was featured in a split program at the Hollywood Bowl on August 16, 1958. The first pleasant surprise here is the sound. Project producer Gregg Field, who actually played drums with Fitzgerald for a time, has heroically recovered an enormous amount of information from the 64-year-old 1/4″ tapes. Though rounded and dynamically limited, the sound is reasonably well-balanced between Fitzgerald’s voice and the accompanying full orchestra. While it may be the presence of the audience spurring her on during the upbeat numbers, including many of Berlin’s best-known tunes, they are delicious here.

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