Twelve Nights in Hollywood, Vols. 3-4

Audio Compact Disc

Label: Verve

Category: Jazz

Twelve Nights in Hollywood, Vols. 3-4

UPC: 602527405759

Release Date: 01/04/2011

Original Release Date: 01/04/2011

Number of Discs: 2

William Ruhlmann

Verve originally released Ella Fitzgerald's Twelve Nights in Hollywood, drawn from performances at the Crescendo nightclub in 1961 and 1962, as a four-CD set in 2009. Now, the collection has been repackaged as two two-CD sets. On the third and fourth discs, Fitzgerald reveals herself as an engaged performer with a strong sense of communication with her audience. She takes requests, whether she can remember the lyrics or not. (It doesn't matter, since she can improvise good words or just scat.) She introduces ringside celebrities including Walter Winchell and Carl Reiner. When she spots songwriter Mack David, she spontaneously decides to perform his song "Candy," noting, "I hope I don't mess it up. That's the only ones that sell these days." She is thinking of her recent Top 40 hit version of "Mack the Knife," on which she went up on the words to delightful effect. "You're Driving Me Crazy" has an appropriately crazy arrangement, with tempo shifts galore, while "How High the Moon" typically serves as a platform for the album's most ambitious scatting. She borrows from Billie Holiday's repertoire for "Good Morning Heartache," providing a good example of the contrast in their styles; in Fitzgerald's reading, there isn't much heartache, but it's a powerful musical performance. Toward the end, she takes up the then-current fad for twisting before finishing with two versions of "Bill Bailey," in which she sings impressions of Sophie Tucker, Della Reese, Pearl Bailey, Louis Armstrong, and Dinah Washington. In other words, these shows are anything but formal jazz sessions. Rather, they represent an entertainer dedicated to entertaining by any means at hand, who also happens to have the best vocal jazz chops in the business. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi