Ella Fitzgerald – The Lost Recordings- Live In Helsinki 1963-1965 – 180g 3LP Vinyl Record

In 1960 Ella Fitzgerald bought a house in Copenhagen. It might seem surprising for someone born in Virginia to choose Denmark with its icy winters. There was indeed a part of folly in the decision, because she was once more in love. This time, the man was Swedish. But the chain of events had not been random. Norman Granz, her mentor, friend and producer had decided to leave the U.S. and move to Switzerland around the same time. He was weary of battling away in a country fraught with racism, bogged down in the Cold War and witch hunts.

Ray Charles, Miles Davis and many other musicians were also victims of obnoxious prejudice and Europe became their new mecca. Granz had already led the way and Ella followed. However, she never definitively left the United States, where she continued to fight racism, supporting Martin Luther King and appearing with her blond “sister,” Marilyn Monroe. Across the Atlantic, she made more and more European tours, speaking German in Berlin, French in Paris, and Italian in Rome. She used English in Helsinki, where she gave two memorable concerts in April 1963 and March 1965. She felt a close affinity to Copenhagen. One thing was sure, she was happy, and it showed.

It took us at The Lost Recordings months of talks and two trips to Helsinki to unearth the tapes of these concerts, never before published as records. We were immediately struck by Ella’s virtuosity – her vocal acrobatics – and the quality of her voice, whose very essence and tonal confidence still shine through. This imposing woman’s stage presence is magnetic, masking her stage fright in the wings and the shyness she had retained since childhood.

After listening to these concerts, it is clear that her musical legacy extends beyond the musical framework of jazz. Her repertoire included not only the composers of The Great American Songbook, such as Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin, but also popular Broadway numbers, songs by The Beatles and South American music. The last piece of the puzzle: she knew no boundaries. She swept up everything along her way. Her timbre, her style and her very presence are immediately recognisable. She was inimitable. Whether she was living in Harlem, London, Los Angeles, Copenhagen or Helsinki, she was the very embodiment of swing, of scat, and of jazz. Ella and music are one.

Musicians:
Ella Fitzgerald, vocals
Tommy Flanagan, piano
Les Spann, guitar & flute
Jim Hughart, bass
Gus Johnson, drums

Track Listing

LP 1
1. Just One of Those Things
2. Like Someone in Love
3. Crazy He Calls Me
4. In a Mellow Tone
5. No Moon at All
6. Georgia on My Mind
7. All of Me
8. Moonlight in Vermont
9. Misty
10. Hallelujah, I Love Him So
11. Mack the Knife

LP 2
1. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
2. They Can’t Take That Away From Me
3. Summertime
5. Lush Life
6. Runnin’ Wild
7. Georgia On My Mind
8. A Lot of Livin’ to Do
9. ‘S Wonderful
10. Desafinado
11. Tenderly
12. How High the Moon

LP 3
1. Walk Right In
2. That Old Black Magic
3. Body and Soul
4. Here’s That Rainy Day
5. The Angels Sing
6. A Hard Day’s Night
7. Medley: Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me/Mood Indigo/It Don’t Mean a Thing
8. The Boy from Ipanema
9. Don’t Rain on My Parade from ‘Funny Girl’
9. Mack the Knife