TV Channel Qwest: Jazz and Beyond

Ella Fitzgerald - Live at The Olympia, Paris | Qwest TV







A performer of the Duke Ellington Songbook and Porgy And Bess, Ella Fitzgerald built an international reputation by giving concerts such as this one at the Olympia in Paris. Supported by a top-notch trio including Tommy Flanagan on piano, the grande dame of jazz opens the set with the unstoppable "Youre Nobody Til Somebody Loves You." Bluesy but restrained, this piece sets the mood perfectly. Another classy sequence, Erroll Garners "Misty," enhances the exceptional timbre of the Sophisticated Ladys voice. And the mischievous "Bill Bailey, Wont You Please Come Home?" meets its match through the free electron of Jean-Christophe Avertys camera. The conclusion of this blessed session of the gods is topped off with a few notes from "Tell Me," taken from the recently released Ella Sings Broadway, and then with a revival of "Mack The Knife." Already popularized by Ella Fitzgerald at a memorable concert in Berlin, this song by the immense Kurt Weill (and Bertold Brecht via the Threepenny Opera) exudes tenderness, especially since the singer allows herself a short but roguish imitation of Louis Armstrong, her lifelong accomplice.

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