Ella Fitzgerald is one of the most important, iconic figures in the jazz community. That goes without saying. The Montreux Jazz Festival is one of the most iconic music festivals for the music community. So when Fitzgerald made her debut performance at the festival in what would have been only its third year in existence in 1969, the coming together of the two sides made perfect sense. It was one of so many concerts that would help the festival go on to become one of the world’s premiered music festivals, too. More than 30 years after that performance, in 2005, Fitzgerald’s fans and jazz fans in general finally got to experience it for the first time in full through a DVD presentation of her concert. Released through Mercury Studios (then Eagle Rock Entertainment), it marked the first time ever that the 66-minute concert had seen the light of day in a full, official release. Now more than 15 years after its release, the iconic concert will get new life in a new re-issue on CD and vinyl Friday through Mercury Studios. The primary highlight comes in the form of its liner notes. They will be discussed shortly. The set list featured in the recording is its own highlight and will be discussed a little later. The concert’s production rounds out its most important elements and will also be examined later. Each item noted is important in its own right to the whole of the recording. All things considered they make Mercury Studios’ new forthcoming re-issue of Ella Fitzgerald: Live at Montreux 1969 one of this year’s top new live CDs.
Mercury Studios’ forthcoming re-issue of Ella Fitzgerald: Live at Montreux 1969 is a presentation that Fitzgerald fans and jazz aficionados in general will find fully engaging and entertaining in its latest presentation on CD and vinyl. Its appeal comes in part through its liner notes. The liner notes, penned by writer Peter Gamble, fill a page and a half inside the booklet that accompanies the recording in its CD pressings. Originally penned by Gamble in 2004 – meaning it is likely these liner notes were included in the concert’s 2005 DVD release. Anyone who has that release is welcome to inform this critic further on this matter – the notes point out that Fitzgerald performed at Montreux at least half a dozen times over her career and that when she made her debut at the festival in 1969, she was already a household name in her own right around the world. This is important to note because it really further serves to show why the pairing of Fitzgerald and the festival was a common sense move. This especially as Gamble points out early in the liner notes that in their fancy, so many jazz festivals needed big names for success because jazz was considered to have a “minority appeal” as a genre. In other words, jazz was not the most popular music at the time. There is no racial connotation here.
Understanding jazz festivals’ need for big names in order to be successful, audiences are immediately led at this point to wonder why it took three years for Montreux’s organizers to get Fitzgerald on board, considering her already established global notoriety. That discussion in itself further shows the importance of the recording’s liner notes.
Gamble further points out in his notes, the set list that Fitzgerald performed at her debut Montreux performance was composed of songs taken from her then latest compilation record, Sunshine of Your Love, which included a take of the Cream classic by the same name. He points out in the notes, the record’s overall presentation surprised many of her established audiences, and not necessarily in a good way. That is because it mixed so much pop influence with her more well-known jazz leanings. It took her in a decidedly new direction. Gamble notes that Fitzgerald and her fellow musicians taking the majority of the record for the set list also surprised audiences at the festival because those audiences also were expecting the jazz standards she had made so popular early in her career. This builds even more on the discussion on her performance and why organizers had waited as long as they had to bring her on board. Perhaps had they brought her on earlier, those standards would have been more prominent, but that is now a story for another time. Either way, it further shows the importance of the record’s liner notes.
Noting the set list featured here, it clearly was controversial at the time. Looking at the set list in the bigger picture of the presentation here, the set list is important because it is the full set list featured in the concert’s 2005 DVD presentation. What’s more it is the same concert presented in the same order as that in the 2005 DVD release. In other words, regardless of whether audiences already own that DVD presentation, they are getting the same set list in both platform’s presentation. That means having the full historical/musical document even in this case. Knowing that there are concerts out there whose track listings do in fact vary from one source to another, it makes this aspect of the recording all the more important.
Keeping in mind the importance of the set list featured here and the liner notes that accompany the recording, audiences clearly have plenty to appreciate from this record. They are just part of what makes the record as engaging and entertaining as it is. The production puts the finishing touch to the presentation. The balance of Fitzgerald’s vocals and the performance of her accompanying musicians is expert. That is especially as the collective makes its way through ‘Sunshine of Your Love.’ Fitzgerald almost sounds like Janis Joplin with her gritty vocal delivery here. That delivery cuts through so clearly even as her fellow performers get increasingly energetic through the song. No one performer overpowers the others at any point here. On the exact opposite end, the production shines through just as much in the more subtle song, ‘A Place For Lovers.’ The subtle swing in the song is captured just as well both from Fitzgerald and pianist Tommy Flanagan. The airy-ness of the venue brings out the richness of Fitzgerald’s performance here, too, again, thanks to the production. Her vocals (and her companions’ performances) ring through the venue so clearly, virtually encompassing listeners in the concert as they close their eyes and take in the concert. On yet another note, the group’s performance of ‘Well Alright Okay You Win’ further shows the impact of the concert’s positive production, really capturing the swing from the collective. The way in which drummer Ed Thigpen’s snare drum cuts through as it keeps the beat and the power in Fitzgerald’s delivery comes through so clearly. Flanagan’s performance on the piano gets just as much attention, again, thanks to the production. The balance of each part continues to show the role that the production plays in this recording and is just one more example of its importance. When the positive impact of the production is considered alongside the positives of the set list and the liner notes, the whole here becomes an early contender for a spot among this year’s top new live CDs.
Mercury Studios’ new, forthcoming CD and vinyl presentation of Ella Fitzgerald: Live at Montreux 1969 is not its first release, but it is one of the first great live CD recordings planned for release this year. Its appeal comes in part through its featured liner notes. Whether the liner notes featured here are also included in the concert’s 2005 DVD release is something those with the DVD will know. Either way, they present an interesting background on the concert that is certain to generate plenty of discussion. The set list featured in the recording is just as important here as the recording’s liner notes. That is because it is the exact same set list in the exact same order as that featured in the recording’s 2005 DVD presentation. It means audiences get the exact same concert here as that featured in the noted DVD presentation. No one is being left out, in other words. The record’s production rounds out its most important elements. That is because it makes audiences feel like they are right there in the venue, taking in the concert, what with the expert balance in the sound quality. Each item examined here is important in its own way to the whole of this presentation. All things considered they make Mercury Studios’ new re-issue of Ella Fitzgerald: Live at Montreux 1969 the first of this year’s great new live CDs.
Ella Fitzgerald: Live at Montreux 1969 is scheduled for release Friday through Mercury Studios. More information on this and other titles from Mercury Studios is available at:
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