Cat. No. DVD 1468: ELLA FITZGERALD ~ LIVE AT MONTREUX 1969. EAGLE VISION EREDV 662-A.
FORMAT: PAL REGION: ALL REGIONS.
COLOUR RUNNING TIME: 66 MINS.
REVIEW: Ella Fitzgerald is regarded by many as the greatest jazz singer of all time and was one of the dominant figures in the genre throughout the second half of the twentieth century. Ella was sometimes referred to as the “First Lady Of Song”, “Queen Of Jazz” and “Lady Ella”. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, in her “scat-singing”.
After a tumultuous adolescence, Fitzgerald found stability in musical success with the Chick Webb Orchestra, performing across the country but most often associated with the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Her rendition of the nursery rhyme "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" helped boost both her and Webb to national fame. After taking over the band when Webb died, Fitzgerald left it behind in 1942 to start her solo career. Her manager was Moe Gale, co-founder of the Savoy, until she turned the rest of her career over to Norman Granz, who founded Verve Records to produce new records by Fitzgerald. With Verve, she recorded some of her more widely noted works, particularly her interpretations of the Great American Songbook.
Outside her solo career, she created music with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and The Ink Spots. These partnerships produced songs such as "Dream A Little Dream Of Me", "Cheek To Cheek", "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall", and It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing). Even by her first Montreux Jazz Festival appearance in 1969, Ella Fitzgerald had become an institution both in and outside of the jazz world, her reputation as the classiest of singers acknowledged around the world.
In 1993, after a career of nearly sixty years, she gave her last public performance. Three years later, she died at age 79 after years of declining health. Her accolades included 14 Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts Award, the NAACP's inaugural President's Award and the Presidential Medal Of Freedom. GREAT PERFORMANCE FROM A TRUE MUSIC LEGEND *****
SONG LISTING: Give Me The Simple Life / This Girl’s In Love With You / I Won’t Dance / A Place For Lovers / That Old Black Magic / Useless Landscape / I Love You Madly / Trouble Is A Man / A Man And A Woman / Sunshine Of Your Love / Well Alright, Okay You Win / Hey Jude / Scat Medley / A House Is Not A Home.
DVD - SLIMLINE NEW
