Love Letters From Ella [Digipak]

Performer: Ella Fitzgerald
Engineer: Gregg Field; Bill Smith; Andrew Kitchen; Paul Smith; Aaron Walk; Dick Lewzey; Lewis Jones; Steve Genewick
Producer: Gregg Field; Jorge Calandrelli
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Freddie Green, John Chiodini (guitar); Keiron Moore (oboe); Christine Pendrill (English horn); Nolan Andrew Smith, Pete Minger, Ray Brown , Warren Luening, Sonny Cohn (trumpet); Mel Wanzo, Dennis Wilson , Bill Hughes (trombone); Count Basie, Michael Lang , Jorge Calandrelli (piano); Chuck Berghofer, John Clayton (bass guitar); Gregg Field, Butch Miles (drums); Carmine Lauri, Mitchell 'Bootie' Wood, Nick Ingman. Additional personnel: Joe Pass (guitar); Scott Hamilton (saxophone); Andr� Previn (piano); Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (bass guitar); Count Basie & His Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra. Ella would have been 90 years old in 2007, and to celebrate, a collection of never-before-released love songs was released to honor the legend. Many of these tracks find Ella backed up by the London Symphony Orchestra, while others find her dueting with Count Basie. No matter who else appears on the track, though, Ella's stunning voice is always the main attraction. Observing what would have been Ella Fitzgerald's 90th birthday, Concord and its Starbucks partner raided Concord's Pablo vaults and patched together this somewhat brief (40-minute) collection of outtakes and virtual collaborations, hoping for another synergetic success. Ella is in fine late-period (1973-1983) form (some shakiness in the later songs aside), the remastered sound is big and razor-sharp, and the material is impeccable. Four of the ten tracks have been subjected to 2007-vintage overdubbing in London's Abbey Road Studios by the London Symphony Orchestra, with plush arrangements from co-producer Jorge Calandrelli. Technically, the experiment works about as well as Concord's earlier attempt to overdub the current Count Basie Orchestra over Ray Charles; the seams are inaudible. Although the liner notes claim that everything here is unreleased, "I've Got the World on a String" -- a starkly intimate duet with guitarist Joe Pass when heard on the album Fitzgerald and Pass...Again -- sounds like the released take with a rhythm section and the LSO grafted on. The results transport Ella from a living room into Carnegie Hall, so to speak, completely altering the mood and intent of the original. The best moments come when Ella and pianist Andr� Previn -- then on holiday from leading the Pittsburgh Symphony -- have some civilized fun chasing each other on the scat portion of "Our Love Is Here to Stay," and when the Basie band (with the Count on hand) and Ella swing mightily in "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone." There is also one non-orchestrated, midtempo duet with Pass ("The One I Love [Belongs to Somebody Else]"). Though offering short weight at full price, this CD of addenda to the Era of Ella should find an appreciative audience in the coffee checkout line. ~ Richard S. Ginell

JazzTimes (p.71) - "[T]here's no mistaking her girlish zest, harmonic acumen and remarkable gift for embellishing a phrase, a word or a mere syllable in a way that seems at once artful and effortless."

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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