duaneiac Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 This album has certainly been a long time in the making. Recorded at the Hollywood nightclub Zardi's on Feb. 2, 1956, this was among the very first recorded projects by Ella Fitzgerald under her new contract with Norman Granz's Verve Records. (Just five days later she went into the studio to begin recording her classic Cole Porter Songbook album.) For some reason, this session has sat in the Verve vaults for 61 years, but it is finally scheduled to be released next month on CD. Ms. Fitzgerald was accompanied on this occasion by Don Abney, Vernon Alley and the recently departed Frank Capp. I have not seen any track listing for the CD yet, but the Discography in Stuart Nicholson's biography of Ella Fitzgerald shows 20 songs having been recorded on this date. Hopefully they will all be included on the CD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 I have always hoped for more Ella. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 Always, more. But what's the deal on Don Abney? I have him on a Music Minus One record with Bobby Donaldson, Mundell Lowe, and Wilbur Ware, and that's it. For that matter, bobby Donaldson, what's the deal with him too? Let's make a deal, Monty, and here's some more of the ella for all of us. But too much teeth will ruin your appetite: and now your teeth fall out by george! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 Don Abney's on 4 tracks of this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 Thanks for that pointer, then I have him on two records! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 Surely you have this album. If you do, you have more Abney. If you don't have this album, you need to get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted October 7, 2017 Report Share Posted October 7, 2017 Well yes, I do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted October 7, 2017 Report Share Posted October 7, 2017 No mention of "Ella Speed"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted October 7, 2017 Report Share Posted October 7, 2017 Abney's also on "Another One": Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted October 15, 2017 Report Share Posted October 15, 2017 Any of those so fed up with the masses of Ella releases has a Verve edition of "Live at Mister Kelly's" to let go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted O'Reilly Posted October 15, 2017 Report Share Posted October 15, 2017 I hope the piano was tuned for Ella's gig. It wasn't for Oscar Peterson's 1955 recording at Zardi's. That took years and years to issue too. It was one of his best performances of the period, but oh, that piano! By the end of disc two, it's cringe-worthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disaac Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 Is the Verve edition that superior to the other version floating around on eBay for $15 or so? Or is that a boot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted April 26, 2018 Report Share Posted April 26, 2018 I had received an email from Verve on RSD that the vinyl was going to be available in limited quantities that day. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get to any record store that day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazaro Vega Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 Abney and Ella are on screen in "Pete Kelly's Blues." This was supposed to be the first Verve release, but the Cole Porter Songbook came out and 60 years later we get the, 'Oh yeah.....I forgot about that one.....' The crowd, and maybe that's Granz, is kind of treating her like a human jukebox. A few times she sort of shrugs to the band and says something along the lines of 'we're going off the set list.' She'd worked some stuff up, though, as you can hear in the intro to "Why Don't You Do Right?" That's a thought out arrangement. Kind of wish they'd have left her alone to play what she wanted, though everyone is up to winging it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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