"Jazz Icons: Ella Fitzgerald – Live in ’57 and ‘63" review

DVD Review

Jazz Icons: Ella Fitzgerald – Live in ’57 and ‘63

Oh my goodness!  What a pleasant surprise to find this gem on the shelves of the local library.  My wife is a huge Frank Sinatra fan, and our relationship provided the entry point for me into the superb songbooks and singers from the 40’s and 50’s.  Frank was a great admirer of Ella Fitzgerald, and they performed together many times.  Aside from her precise pitch control and phrasing, Ella is most famous for her superlative ability at scat singing.  This involves the singer making on-the-spot vocal and tonal improvisations around the melody of a song, and Ella was one of the undisputed virtuoso's.  Although she only does it on a few songs from each concert, anyone with an appreciation for music and vocals should find their jaw hitting the floor when Ella takes off!

The DVD contains two concerts, both of which are exemplary displays of Ella’s talents.  What makes them more special is that they are both complete performances, not a pastiche across different times and places.  This allows the viewer the pleasure of being able to feel more connected to the event and the singer, and I believe it also creates a greater appreciation for the varied talents of “The First Lady of Song.”  The first performance was recorded in Belgium in 1957 and is the more relaxed and joyous of the two as Ella has a packed theater for which to perform.  You can see how the positive energy of the crowd’s applause fills her with delight as she dances from one tune to the next with the greatest of ease.  Ella is backed by a superb band, all of whom are also clearly enjoying the hell out of themselves.  Ella swings her way effortlessly through a varied list of known and lesser-known songs (at least, to my neophyte’s knowledge) and her energy, enthusiasm and joy in performance are wondrous to behold.  I believe that a true master will always make the hardest tasks seem effortless, and Ella is incomparable at making her scintillating singing look as easy as breathing.

The second concert was recorded in a studio in Sweden in 1963.  Again Ella has a fantastic band, but we’re never shown the studio audience.  It’s not that I mind, as crowd shots can be distracting, but it does make the performance space feel a bit lonelier as it seems to be just Ella and the band performing alone.  However, her talents are peerless, and once again she shows them to full effect.  The picture on this concert is a bit sharper, but both shows have excellent audio, especially given their age and the technology used at the time.  What I appreciated most about this DVD was that it provides a very necessary example of real singing.  Today, you don’t even have to be able to hold a note to become a star, as Autotune has made celebrity possible for anyone with a model’s face and a willingness to be exploited, even if their actual talents couldn’t provide enough energy to power a light bulb. 

Young people of today, take note!  *rimshot*  The vast majority of today’s music (at least what dominates the radio) is computer whitewashed drivel made by robots for robots.  It is soulless, pre-packaged background noise designed to keep you distracted.  Study your musical history.  Listen to the work of these great artists who are so rightly revered and hopefully you will understand why they are held in such high regard.  Their kind of talent cannot be emulated, copied or reproduced.  It has to be discovered, developed and encouraged.  Somewhere out there is someone with the raw talent and skills to be the next great vocalist of our time.  So unplug your iPod and turn on your record player.  Find a local music store with employees who are in their golden years.  They will happily lead you down a path to the greatest music you’ve probably ever heard, and Ella Fitzgerald is a damned good place to start!