“I guess what everyone wants more than anything else is to be loved. And to know that you loved me for my singing is too much for me. Forgive me if I don’t have all the words. Maybe I can sing it and you’ll understand” –Ella Fitzgerald
When asked to write a review on the upcoming CD and LP release of Ella Fitzgerald’s Live at Montreux 1969 performance, I could not respond quickly enough.
Giddy and smiling from ear to ear, I thought to myself, the bar has been set high. It simply does not get any more legendary than Ella Fitzgerald.
Named “The First Lady of Song,” “Queen of Jazz,” and “Lady Ella,” Ella Fitzgerald won 13 Grammy-awards and sold over 40 million albums over the span of her six-decade career. She gained the respect of fellow giant in the industry, Frank Sinatra, who said, “Ella Fitzgerald is the only performer with whom I’ve ever worked who made me nervous. Because I try to work up to what she does. You know, try to pull myself up to that height, because I believe she is the greatest popular singer in the world, barring none—male or female”.
Ella Fitzgerald had a unique ability to use her voice like any instrument. She is widely known for perfectly mimicking the sound of the horn section, making her one of the most influential and highly respected scat singers of all time. American conductor Arthur Fielder once referred to Fitzgerald’s voice as the “orchestra’s richest and most versatile sound.”
Live at Montreux 1969 captures Fitzgerald’s dazzling first performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. On this monumental night, she shared the stage with American jazz pianist and composer, Tommy Flanagan and his trio. In addition to enduring classics such as, “I Won’t Dance,” and “That Old Black Magic, the endlessly inventive Fitzgerald delivered her inspired takes on Paul McCartney’s “Hey Jude,” Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love,” and Dionne Warwick’s “This Girl’s in Love with You”.
On January 20, 2023 Mercury Studios will release Ella Fitzgerald: Live at Montreux 1969 on CD and LP. Originally released on DVD in 2005, this is the first time this concert is being made available on audio formats.
The legend of our iconic “First Lady of Song” lives on.
Track Listing:
Side A (LP):
1. Give Me The Simple Life
2. This Girl’s in Love with You
3. I Won’t Dance
4. A Place for Lovers
5. That Old Black Magic
6. I Love You Madly
7. Trouble Is a Man
Side B (LP):
1. Sunshine of Your Love
2. Well Alright Okay You Win
3. Hey Jude
4. Scat Medley
5. A House Is Not a Home
CD:
1. Give Me The Simple Life
2. This Girl’s in Love with You
3. I Won’t Dance
4. A Place for Lovers
5. That Old Black Magic
6. Useless Landscape
7. I Love You Madly
8. Trouble Is a Man
9. A Man and A Woman
10. Sunshine of Your Love
11. Well Alright Okay You Win
12. Hey Jude
13. Scat Medley
14. A House Is Not a Home
