Live at Montreux 1969

by Ella Fitzgerald

Overview

Ella Fitzgerald was still very much at the top of her game in 1969, when this appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival was videotaped. Accompanied by the always swinging pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Frank DeLaRosa, and drummer Ed Thigpen, Fitzgerald works her magic with a number of favorites from her vast repertoire to the delight of her attentive audience, including "Give Me the Simple Life," "That Old Black Magic," and "I Won't Dance." But the singer was never one to stand pat with her song selection, so she was always looking at new material. While some of it merits inclusion, like Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Useless Landscape," there are several obvious duds, including Burt Bacharach's leaden ballad "This Girl's in Love with You," plus two forgettable rock songs, Cream's monotonous "Sunshine of Your Love" and the Beatles' equally annoying "Hey Jude." Fortunately, the jazz selections overshadow these performances, particularly the rendition of Duke Ellington's "Love You Madly," which Flanagan slyly introduces by playing Dave Brubeck's "The Duke" (itself a tribute to Ellington, though Ella takes the song into hip territory with a rock rhythm). She also swings Joe Williams' trademark song, "Alright, Okay, You Win." Her uptempo "Scat Medley" is a marvelous alchemy of bossa nova and swing, starting with "One Note Samba" and adding riffs from various standards and jazz compositions, ending with a wild unaccompanied coda. Videotaped in black-and-white with good editing and excellent sound, this DVD will be of interest to Ella Fitzgerald fans. ~ Ken Dryden

Product Details

Release Date:	01/20/2023
Label:	Mercury Studios
UPC:	0602445947317

Tracks

1. Give Me the Simple Life
2. This Girl's in Love With You
3. I Won't Dance
4. A Place for Lovers
5. That Old Black Magic
6. Useless Landscape
7. I Love You Madly
8. Trouble Is a Man
9. A Man and a Woman
10. Sunshine of Your Love
11. Well Alright Okay You Win
12. Hey Jude
13. Scat Medley: Girl From Ipanema/One Note Samba/Tisket-A-Tasket/Pretty Baby
14. A House Is Not a Home

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Ella Fitzgerald   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Paul McCartney   Composer
Jerome Kern   Composer
Van Alexander   Composer
Harold Arlen   Composer
Duke Ellington   Composer
Jack Bruce   Composer
Rube Bloom   Composer
Ella Fitzgerald   Composer
Eric Clapton   Composer
Francis Lai   Composer
Vinicius de Moraes   Composer
John Lennon   Composer
Johnny Mercer   Composer
Pete Brown   Composer
Louis Oliveira   Composer
Pierre Barouh   Composer
Jerry Keller   Composer
Pierre Grandjean   Mixing,Recording
Ray Gilbert   Composer
Michel Legrand   Composer
Otto Harbach   Composer
Alec Wilder   Composer
Peter Brown   Composer
Burt Bacharach   Composer
Manuel de Sica   Composer
Harry Ruby   Composer
Jimmy McHugh   Composer
Hal David   Composer
Antonio Carlos Jobim   Composer
Dorothy Fields   Composer
Oscar Hammerstein II   Composer
Norman Gimbel   Composer
Eric Glardon   Post Production
Marius Berger   Film Producer,Video Producer
Claude Nobs   Producer
Jean-Claude Martin   Mixing,Recording
Thierry Amsallem   Filmmaker,Video Director
Jerry Paul Keller   Translation
Jimmy Mc Hugh   Composer
John Mercer   Composer
Raymond Jaussi   Filmmaker,Video Director
Pierre Matteuzzi   Filmmaker,Video Director