Search - Ella Fitzgerald :: Ella Abraca Jobim (20 bit mastering)

Grows on you

David G. Smith | Fairfax, CA United States | 04/22/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ok, so this is obviously an older Ella, combined with early 80's sensibilities(electric piano for one), and at first, I sort of doubted I would enjoy it.
I have to say that I really like it, when realizing that originally I desired 40's Ella singing 1959 Jobim. The truth is, at face value it is actually quite fun. Ella has fun, the playing of the soloists is , if not Blue Train Coltrane inspired,fairly upbeat and interesting. The translations are fun as well.
I read a review that said that this album came 20 years too late. Yeah, sad but true. But to embrace the joys of the fact that it exists at all. Ella, the classic old house with worn out pipes, finding her way through a spirited set.Jobim's beautiful music coming through dated orchestrations(why is it that 40's and 50's orchestrations don't seem dated to me, but 80"s orchestrations do). For me, the world of even the lightest jazz rings true these days.
I for one, though dubious, am glad that Ella Abracad Jobim.(I am assuming Abraca is portuguese for sings)"

3-1/2 stars - early '80s Ella.

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 12/15/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A soft-fusion jazz take on the works of pioneering Brazilian bossa nova composer Antonio Carlos Jobim... Originally issued as a double LP, this set is vintage early-80s Fitzgerald, with Ella throwing herself into the songs wholeheartedly, despite the somewhat cloying and cluttered, too-smooth performances of the band. Jazz cats Alex Acuna, Oscar Castro Neves, Paulinho Da Costa, Clark Terry and Toots Thielemans are among the heavy-hitters who back her up... The album as a whole is a bit busy, but the English translations are kinda nice, as are Ella's game attempts at singing in Portuguese (she does alright, though her accent is irrevocably tempered by learning Spanish first...) Both Ella and Jobim have had better days, but this still has some nice moments, and even a few surprises."

Proof that she was human.

Mary Whipple | New England | 04/23/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Ella Fitzgerald was such a gigantic talent with such a wide influence, that it's sometimes hard to believe that she was human like the rest of us. This recording proves that she is not perfect--she makes mistakes. Recorded with long-time producer Norman Granz, this CD features eighteen Brazilian songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim and an all-star cast of supporting players--including Zoot Sims on tenor sax, Joe Pass on solo electric guitar, and legendary Toots Thielemans on harmonica. While they perform flawlessly and seem totally comfortable with their material, Ella, unfortunately, does not.



She sounds tentative and uncomfortable at the beginning of most of her songs, and does not seem to relate to her material until late into several songs when she is able to use her upper register and wail in the familiar Fitzgerald manner, even breaking into scat on several tracks. "The Girl from Ipanema" is terrific with her scatting at the end, and "Triste," which also features a great Joe Pass solo, lets her be the jazz star that she is. Because the first two songs, "Somewhere in the Hills (Favela)" and "Girl from Ipanema" are well done and interesting, I thought I would enjoy this CD, but a few missed notes and the dirge-like beginnings to later songs made this CD an uncomfortable listening experience for me. (If you have the opportunity to test-play this CD, listen to "A Felicidade" before buying it, and then decide.)



The fault is not all hers. Many of the songs begin in a key that is too low for Ella, and, with her lower register nearly gone, at this point in her career, she does not always hit her notes. This is glaringly obvious in "Wave," which even "perfect-pitch Mel" (Torme) found nearly impossible to sing, to the point that he turned it into a running joke with the audience whenever he sang the refrain "The fundamental loneliness goes whenever two can dream a dream--together," deliberately straining at the bottom note for effect. Ella misses the bottom note at the beginning and then does not try to hit it on later repeats. I love and admire Ella Fitzgerald, but this CD reminds me that she was human. n Mary Whipple

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