New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ UMe) Ella Fitzgerald is regarded by many as the finest female jazz vocalist of all time, with a seminal body of work that continues to inspire multiple generations of fans around the world. So the discovery of a cache of never-before-released vintage Fitzgerald performances is a major musical event, and the release of that material marks a significant addition to her legendary catalogue.
These brilliant recordings, captured between 1965 and 1977 by the British Broadcasting Corporation and recently uncovered by BBC archivists, are collected on the new CD/DVD collection Best of the BBC Vaults, to be released on July 23, 2013 by Universal
Music Enterprises (UMe). The package captures Ella at the height of her musical powers, applying her unmistakable vocal skills to such immortal jazz and pop standards as "The Lady Is A Tramp," "Mack The Knife," "That Old
Black Magic," "Sweet Georgia Brown," "
Cheek To Cheek" and "Angel Eyes."
The stellar new set is digitally remastered for optimum sonic and visual clarity. The DVD contains four full-length shows encompassing 34 songs, including a pair of 1965 TV appearances, Ella Sings and Show Of The Week, a scintillating 1974 concert at the fabled London jazz club Ronnie Scott's and a mesmerizing 1977 set from the Montreux Jazz Festival. The 17-song CD collects highlights of Ella's finest work from the BBC archives.
Affectionately known as the "Queen of Jazz" and "the First Lady of Song,"
Ella Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917-June 15, 1996) remains one of her era's most beloved and influential singers. With a six-decade career that began in the late 1930s while she was still a teenager, she sold over 40 million albums (many of them on Verve, the legendary jazz label that manager Norman Granz built around her), won 13 Grammy awards, and was awarded the
National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In the course of her long and productive career, Fitzgerald established a powerful reputation as a peerless performer whose vocal talent was emulated, but never bested, by multiple generations of jazz, pop and rhythm and blues singers. With a sense of swing and a vocal range spanning three octaves, she was noted for her impeccable tone, diction, phrasing and intonation, as well as her pioneering improvisational technique and skillful scat singing.
Best of the BBC Vaults adds an exciting new chapter to Ella Fitzgerald's classic body of work, showcasing the one-of-a-kind talent that made her a musical icon.
