Ella at Zardis

Description

Verve Records will close out their year-long celebration of jazz legend Ella Fitzgeralds centennial with the ultimate present for her 100th birthday a completely unreleased live album. Recorded on February 2, 1956 at Zardis Jazzland in Hollywood, Ella At Zardis features the entirety of the evenings two-set, 21-song performance, which captures an inspired Fitzgerald, backed by a stellar trio comprised of pianist Don Abney, bassist Vernon Alley and drummer Frank Capp, singing and swinging in front of an animated, adoring crowd, just days before shed go on to record the album that would catapult her to stardom. The concert was originally recorded to celebrate the creation of, and Fitzgeralds signing to, Verve Records, created by veteran jazz impresario Norman Granz, and was planned as the labels inaugural release but shelved in favor of the now-classic studio album Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book.