Ella Fans – Take Heart!

Hat Tip – The Grio

Ella Fitzgerald is rediscovered through lost recordings

Jazz lovers have new music to groove to from a familiar voice: Ella Fitzgerald’s. However, this music is not new at all. It comes from recordings Fitzgerald made nearly half a century ago.

“I had never heard the tapes. We ordered them up and we couldn’t believe it when we heard what they sounded like,” said music producer Richard Seidel. “There isn’t anything like this. It’s truly unprecedented.”

Back in the early 60s, Fitzgerald performed a series of concerts in Hollywood. During the 12 nights she sang, her manager Norman Granz recorded what turned out to be close to 100 hours of music. According to Verve Music Group, it is one of only two club performances she recorded.

“I’ve worked on a lot of projects, but nothing quite like this,” said Seidel, “What’s so unprecedented about it is that over the course of 10 nights, she did 50 or 60 different songs.”

Now with a  new box set, “Twelve Nights in Hollywood,” Fitzgerald comes alive. Comprising four CDs that include 76 never-before-released live tracks recorded in 1961 and 1962, this set is not only a vital discovery for Fitzgerald fans, but also perhaps the best starting point for neophytes who never have had the opportunity to hear what exactly made her special.