Search - Ella Fitzgerald :: Ella Returns to Berlin

Even BETTER The Second Time Around

Peter | East of Los Angeles | 05/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ella's "Mack the Knife" Berlin concert of 1960 has attained a pinnacle place in jazz history that it has become the benchmark for most other live vocal recordings to be judged against. Returning a year later to the same place was a daunting task for Ella and her group. Of course like everyone else in the audience that night, I was curious if Ella could top---or even meet---her performance from a year earlier. Well, no need to fear for Ella meets all expectations and then some! The Berlin crowd, reknown for their sometimes rude behaivor, showed their appreciative applause and roars for Ella. And it's well deserved.Once again, Ella comes up trumps! She knew the pressure was on her in returning to the same place which gave her much acclaim and glory. Not only is she in great voice and sings with the bell-like clarity for which she is known, but in some instances, SURPASSES her performance from 1960. Of course that concert was defined by Ella's impromptu "wing-it" performance of the single, "Mack the Knife", which went on to become a huge hit for her. Here she sings the track again with different lyrics, perhaps being the only track that falls somewhat short. But in nearly every other instance, you can really hear an inspired Ella as she plays to the crowd and nails song after song. Special mention must go to the guitarist who is given prominence here. On some tracks it's just Ella and the guitarist you hear, which really adds a sense of intimacy to what must have been a very large concert hall. The song selection shows more variety and range this time. Ella adds a Jerome Kern medley which really melts your heart with its poignancy. Who said Ella can't sing with any emotion like Billie Holiday? This CD certainly proves Ella was Billie's equal in the jazz pantheon. Get this now out-of-print CD and add Ella's unforgettable 1961 performance to your collection. Yes, sometimes things are BETTER the second time around."

A Second Great concert

daantjededaan | Netherlands | 02/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was Ella at her best...', yes, we know that talk. But this is really one of the great Fitzgerald concerts. Her interpretations of these songs are so great, I couldn't imagine anyone else doing them so well. On the first song, `give me the simple life', you can hear she didn't bother warming up for the show, but that's no problem as you can hear. After that more of her standard repertoire of those days, `Cheek to Cheek', `Caravan', a funny `you're driving me crazy' (which she sings here in English, but she recorded later in 1961 a version in German... and her pronouncing isn't flawless on that), and a wonderful `anything goes'. The best part of the concert are the songs from `Misty' to the encore. I think she performed Misty best when she was on stage instead of a studio, because I think this version is better than the studio version on `Intimate Ella'. Misty is followed by Mr. Paganini, of which her later May 1961 version became a hit. Then `Mack the Knife', on which she had learned the lyrics this time. As Ella later recalled on an 1968 interview, the reason they did Mack the Knife at first in 1960 was because the man who had booked Ella there asked her to do this popular song. She didn't know the lyrics then, but she thought they could have a ball anyway. And they did! Years afterwards, until the late 60s, Ella was still asked to do this song.
`Round Midnight is a wonderful improvised version, the best she did I think.
Ella does her best scatting on `Joe Williams' Blues', a song she had `written' herself. As her fans know, she started doing the song with JATP in 1956. Then she sang (improvised?) lyrics, referring to Elvis Presley and his `blue suede shoes' and so on. This song developed trough the years to this 1961 version on which she gets rid of Elvis Presley and refers to Dinah Washington and others. A latter-day version of this song is `Any old Blues', on the album `At the Newport jazz festival Carnegie hall 1973', but this 1961 version is the best, I tried to sing it the way she does but I can't keep up, so don't try that at home.
The encore is `this Can't Be Love', with the Oscar Peterson quartet, which is great.
One more thing: `Second half' doesn't mean that Ella did her first part of the concert in 1960, than waited a year and returned in 1961, but it means the first half of the concert was the part of the Peterson trio, and the second of Ella.
In 1961 she had to sang very much, it was a tiring year for Ella, and her best live recordings were made in Berlin, and not in Hollywood. Here her voice sounds fresh, and in Hollywood she sounds is she has a bit of a cold o something.
And yes, this is a top-recording! It's a pity it wasn't released till 1989 and I had to buy it abroad because it isn't available in Holland, but it certainly is worth buying!"

Ella at the top of her form

COMPUTERJAZZMAN | Cliffside Park, New Jersey United States | 08/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"simply beautiful and inspired. Ella is tops!"