Ella Fitzgerald - At The Shrine

Ella’s performance was part of Granz’s historic Jazz At The Philharmonic concert series, and is thought to be Verve’s first live recording. In addition to its physical release, the album will be available for digital download and streaming for the first time on Friday 1 March. The wide release of the album comes after a limited edition, yellow vinyl version that was released in November 2018 as part of Record Store Day’s Black Friday.

The Ella At The Shrine recording consists of a rousing seven-song set, notably including an early version of George and Ira Gershwin’s ‘S Wonderful.’ This was three years before Fitzgerald recorded the song for her landmark 1959 album Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Song Book. Ira Gershwin himself was moved to commnt: “I never knew how good our songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them.”

The concert date came just weeks before Ella recorded the breakthrough album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book. The set also contained the bluesy ‘Cry Me A River,’ the rhythmic ‘Lullaby of Birdland,’ the swinging ‘Joe Williams’s Blues’ and the bouncy ‘Air Mail Special,’ which showcased the singer’s scatting skills. The album release includes liner notes by jazz broadcaster and educator Phil Schaap, who discovered the recording in an undocumented part of Verve’s vault, where it had been untouched for more than six decades.

1. ‘S Wonderful

2. Cry Me a River

3. Lullaby of Birdland

4.Glad to be Unhappy

SIDE TWO

1.  And the Angels Sing

2. Joe Williams’s Blues

3. Air Mail Special

4. Norman Granz Announcement