Ella Fitzgerald: Ella at the Shrine

This 45rpm vinyl release is part of the continuing 100 year birthday celebration of Ella Fitzgerald. This recoding from a concert at LA’s Shrine auditorium has The First Lady of Song in exuberant form as she leads a team with Don Abney/p, Vernon Alley or Joe Mondragon/b and the swinging Frank Capp/dr. No major surprises on these seven songs, but she is buoyant on “Lullaby of Birdland” searing through “Air Mail Special” and has a gas of a time on her own “Joe Williams’s (sic) Blues.” She is Waterford Crystal clear on “Glad To Be Unhappy” and “Cry Me A River.” A nice little stocking stuffer of America’s best jazz vocalist.

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