Live at Montreaux 1969

エラ・フィッツジェラルドの2005年にDVDでリリースされた1969年のモントルーでのライヴが初めてオーディオ・フォーマットでリリース!

『Live At Montreux 1969』は、エラが有名なモントルー・ジャズ・フェスティバルに初めて出演したときの様子を収めたもので、その後、何度もこのイベントに足を運ぶことになった。この特別な夜、彼女はトミー・フラナガン・トリオと一緒に、アメリカの古典と現代のヒット曲を網羅するセットリストに参加。エラは「I Won't Dance」と「That Old Black Magic」を時代を超えてスムーズに演奏し、ザ・ビートルズの「Hey Jude」、クリームの「Sunshine of Your Love」、ディオンヌ・ワーウィックの「This Girl's In Love With You」を刺激的に歌い上げている!

エラ・フィッツジェラルドの作品は、そのダイナミックで一目でわかる声域から、ジャズ、そしてそれ以外の音楽の先例となった唯一無二のスキャット・フレーズまで、その効力は否定できないもの。アメリカの至宝、音楽史に織り込まれた重要な糸のひとつであるフィッツジェラルドの歴史的ステージは必聴だ。

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