ELLA IN BERLIN

Includes new specially prepared liner notes by Penguin Guide to Jazz's writer Brian Morton and by Paris' prestigious JAZZ MAGAZINE. "The Berlin visit comes in the middle of a long sequence of 'songbook' recordings, usually working with top orchestras, led by Buddy Bregman, Nelson Riddle, Bill Doggett, Marty Paich, Frank DeVol, and others, highly accurate and welldrilled outfits all. And yet, it's with a small group that her powers are most evident. Pianist Paul Smith, with whom she also made The Intimate Ella at this time, was a much underrated accompanist. Guitarist Jim Hall is more widely recognized for his own work, while bassist Wilfred Middlebrooks and drummer Gus Johnson combine the virtues of elastic swing and strict control of time. She may have forgotten the words to 'Die Moritat von Mackie Messer', but she still made a triumph of it, and the Berlin crowd loved her for it. One of the great concert records of the period."PENGUIN GUIDE TO JAZZ - "On this Berlin evening in February 1960, Ella was in Olympic form, surrounded by a formidable group with which she delivered an electrifying emotional performance. This set includes a piece that has entered Ella's personal pantheon, 'Mack the Knife'. Neither she nor her musicians had prepared the tune, and when the singer forgets the words, she launches into an improvised verse that has since become legendary." JAZZ MAGAZINE