Posted on 01/17/2025 12:45:40 PM PST by nickcarraway
‘The Moment Of Truth,’ a new recording from the First Lady Of Soul, is coming in February.
A new, never-before-heard album is coming from the First Lady Of Soul. The Moment Of Truth: Ella At The Coliseum, an unearthed live album from Ella Fitzgerald’s performance at the Oakland Coliseum on June 30, 1967, will be released on all formats on February 28, 2025. First single “The Moment Of Truth” is out now with its own new animated music video directed by Sharon Liu.
The nine-track album was recently found in the private collection of Verve Records founder Norman Granz, and has since been mixed and mastered to high-fidelity audio from the original analog tapes. In addition to preserving the unparalleled performance of Fitzgerald, Moment Of Truth also documents the Duke Ellington Orchestra, who accompanied the vocalist on the evening. The musicians put their touch on some of Fitzgerald’s classic repertoire while also incorporating some contemporary pop hits. Both Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Alfie” and Andy Williams’ “Music To Watch Girls By” reside on this rediscovered set, for the first on any recording.
Other tracks on Moment Of Truth are songs that will be plenty familiar for Fitzgerald fans, like “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love)” and “Mack The Knife.” The latter track is one of her most-loved songs, with her live performance in Berlin on the 1960 album Ella In Berlin winning a Grammy in 1960 for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. After Fitzgerald forgot some of the words in the second half of the song, she demonstrated her unmatched skill in improvisational singing. The rendition recorded here promises to be another one-of-a-kind performance, as do other previously unheard renditions of songs like “Bye Bye Blackbird” and “In A Mellow Tone.”
Beyond Fitzgerald and Ellington, the album is stuffed with other musical talent. Jimmy Jones, Bob Cranshaw, and Sam Woodyard feature as Fitzgerald’s regular band, while Ellington’s orchestra includes Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams, Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges and Russell Procope.
Is it Live or is it Memorex?
there’s many great ones, but in my book, everything considered—catalogue, styles, class, enuciation, range, scat, improv, interpretation, intonation—Ella is the greatest female vocalist of all time.
Ella was magnificent.
Ella was magnificent.
I would say Ella and Sarah Vaughan were the top two female jazz songstresses of all time. Sara's voice with its four octaves and rich timbre was second to none.
I thought Aretha was the “First Lady of soul”.
Sara was great too, yes more range but so did a lot of opera singers. but she didn’t go into all the kinds of music Ella did.
You noticed, they screwed up. Among Ella’s nicknames were “First Lady of Song,” “First Lady of Jazz,” and “Queen of Jazz,” but she was not in the genre of Soul.
Sara's voice has been described as having a "large vocal range of soprano through a female baritone, exceptional body, volume, and a variety of vocal textures".
Personally, the timbre of Vaughan's "burnished contralto" was more appealing to me. However, I regard them as equals; and they were always very complimentary of each other.
boy we sure were blessed though the 20th C with those two.
yes they were very different mega talents. i guess as a fiddle player/guitarist (treble clef instruments) i do tend relate more to Ella’s voice than Sara’s though. i do love that spot on note clarity as the description mentions. every word stands out with brilliance.
You are are right on with your "blessed" comment.
yes. good to know. it’s nice to talk music with someone who understands :).
i just have to give out an honorable mention to Jo Stafford too, since we’re talking female vocalists. she sang everything with class, style, and musicality. she could also sing in a group as well as she could sing solo. and like Ella, could arrange and run a big band with ease.
great musicians all of them.
Jo Stafford, what a career...Great ballad singer...Operatic training and pop singer extraordinaire! I loved her chops.
Sinatra always said she was the best...
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