Legendary Broadcasts

Performer: Ella Fitzgerald
Distributor: RED Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Ella Fitzgerald (vocals); Teddy McRae (baritone, tenor saxophone); John Truehart, Remo Palmieri (guitar); Albert Hall (strings); Eddie Barefield (clarinet); Paul Ricci, Nick Ciazza, Ernie Caceres, Hank D'Amico (woodwinds); Chris Griffin , Roy Eldrige, Yank Lawson, Billy Butterfield, Jimmy Maxwell, Charlie Shavers (trumpet); Ward Silloway, Tommy Dorsey, Will Bradley, George Matthews , Trummy Young (trombone); Ram Ramirez, Teddy Wilson, Earl Hines (piano); Red Norvo (vibraphone); Beverly Peer (bass instrument); Cozy Cole, Specs Powell, Bill Beason (drum); Nat Story, Sandy Williams (unknown instrument); Edgar Sampson, Alan Feldman. Arrangers: Edgar Sampson; Alan Feldman; Paul Baron; Teddy McRae. In the dark days before television, concerts were broadcast on the radio. Sometimes from a club or a concert hall, sometimes from a studio with no audience, but the music was still live. These shows often never made it to records. In the period when these performances were recorded (1940-45), two of the most popular jazz singers in America were Ella Fitzgerald and Mildred Bailey. Fitzgerald, with her dazzling technique and clear-as-a-bell enunciation, would go on to global lifelong fame. Mildred Bailey, with her somewhat more demure and duskier style, would be unfortunately mostly forgotten after 1950 (though she is still beloved by a cult following to this day). These BROADCASTS, with their relatively fine audio quality, present two great singers, one at the dawn of her career, the other in the twilight of hers.

Through unparalleled ability and judicious choice of repertoire, Ella Fitzgerald became the foremost female interpreter of the 20th-century Great American Popular Song Book. With producer Norman Granz she worked on the "songbook" series, placing on record definitive performances of the work of America's leading songwriters. Fitzgerald had a wide vocal range, but her voice retained a youthful, light vibrancy throughout the greater part of her career, bringing a fresh and appealing quality to most of her material, especially her scat singing. While there are still numerous excellent artists whose work has been strongly influenced by Fitzgerald, the social and artistic conditions that helped to create America's First Lady of Song no longer exist, and it seems highly unlikely that we shall ever see or hear her like again.

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