Fitzgerald, Ella: At The Opera House (Vinyl LP)
Jazztwin
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Ella Fitzgerald was already a star by 1957, with more than twenty years as a professional singer under her belt. With the innovation of the LP, Norman Granz created the concept of the Songbook for her: carefully designed multiple-LP box sets devoted to Ella singing the works of some of the best jazz composers, many of which resulted in best selling albums. Granz would also present Ella in a different context. As a concert promoter with his Jazz at the Philharmonic, he taped many concerts and was one of the first producers to issue live recordings. Ella s biographer Stuart Nicholson wrote about the impact this had on the singer s career: The 1957 JATP tour yielded the first of Ella s classic live albums for the Verve label, released in 1958. Jazz at the Opera House was the first live album to suggest more so than her studio recordings that the essence of Ella s art was as a no-frills, straight-ahead jazz singer plying her craft in front of her public. Her in-person recordings provide the most vital life study of Ella Fitzgerald the artist. The album was originally issued in stereo and mono. The stereo version (presented here) contained the actual September 29, 1957 Chicago Opera House performance, while the mono version included material from the October 7 and October 25, 1957 concerts at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Both LP sets had an almost exact program, but while the Opera House (stereo) featured a version of Them There Eyes, the Shrine (mono) performance instead included an impromptu reading of Lady Be Good. Thus, it is obvious that the concert originally reviewed by Dom Cerulli in Down Beat in 1958 was the Shrine/mono recording, because the track listing included on top of the review mentions Lady Be Good but not Them There Eyes. Cerulli certainly didn t notice the apparent incongruence of Ella addressing the Los Angeles audience while singing at the Chicago Opera House which is clearly heard in the Gershwin song It's All Right with Me 2:31, Don'cha Go 'Way Mad 2:42, Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered 3:01, These Foolish Things 3:45, Ill Wind 2:47, Goody Goody 1:54, Moonlight in Vermont 3:05, Them There Eyes 2:08, Stompin' at the Savoy 5:14, It's All Right with Me 2:45, Don'cha Go 'Way Mad 2:31, Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered 3:22, These Foolish Things 3:49, Ill Wind 2:53, Goody Goody 1:55, Moonlight in Vermont 3:16, Stompin' at the Savoy 7:15, Oh Lady Be Good 4:24, How High the Moon 8:31*
Ella Fitzgerald was already a star by 1957, with more than twenty years as a professional singer under her belt. With the innovation of the LP, Norman Granz created the concept of the Songbook for her: carefully designed multiple-LP box sets devoted to Ella singing the works of some of the best jazz composers, many of which resulted in best selling albums. Granz would also present Ella in a different context. As a concert promoter with his Jazz at the Philharmonic, he taped many concerts and was one of the first producers to issue live recordings. Ella s biographer Stuart Nicholson wrote about the impact this had on the singer s career: The 1957 JATP tour yielded the first of Ella s classic live albums for the Verve label, released in 1958. Jazz at the Opera House was the first live album to suggest more so than her studio recordings that the essence of Ella s art was as a no-frills, straight-ahead jazz singer plying her craft in front of her public. Her in-person recordings provide the most vital life study of Ella Fitzgerald the artist. The album was originally issued in stereo and mono. The stereo version (presented here) contained the actual September 29, 1957 Chicago Opera House performance, while the mono version included material from the October 7 and October 25, 1957 concerts at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Both LP sets had an almost exact program, but while the Opera House (stereo) featured a version of Them There Eyes, the Shrine (mono) performance instead included an impromptu reading of Lady Be Good. Thus, it is obvious that the concert originally reviewed by Dom Cerulli in Down Beat in 1958 was the Shrine/mono recording, because the track listing included on top of the review mentions Lady Be Good but not Them There Eyes. Cerulli certainly didn t notice the apparent incongruence of Ella addressing the Los Angeles audience while singing at the Chicago Opera House which is clearly heard in the Gershwin song It's All Right with Me 2:31, Don'cha Go 'Way Mad 2:42, Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered 3:01, These Foolish Things 3:45, Ill Wind 2:47, Goody Goody 1:54, Moonlight in Vermont 3:05, Them There Eyes 2:08, Stompin' at the Savoy 5:14, It's All Right with Me 2:45, Don'cha Go 'Way Mad 2:31, Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered 3:22, These Foolish Things 3:49, Ill Wind 2:53, Goody Goody 1:55, Moonlight in Vermont 3:16, Stompin' at the Savoy 7:15, Oh Lady Be Good 4:24, How High the Moon 8:31*