Description:
You knew a trend was brewing when Concord Records scored a hit by taking newly unearthed vocal tracks from the 1970s by the late Ray Charles and adding newly recorded accompaniment by the orchestra still bearing the late Count Basie's name. Here Concord repeats the formula, doctoring outtakes by the dearly departed Ella Fitzgerald with new backing by the London Philharmonic and/or a contemporary rhythm section. As with Ray Sings, Basie Swings, Love Letters from Ella has undeniable appeal. Recorded in the 1970s, the great singer is in fine, relaxed, late-season form on a collection of ballads including "My Old Flame"
You knew a trend was brewing when Concord Records scored a hit by taking newly unearthed vocal tracks from the 1970s by the late Ray Charles and adding newly recorded accompaniment by the orchestra still bearing the late Count Basie's name. Here Concord repeats the formula, doctoring outtakes by the dearly departed Ella Fitzgerald with new backing by the London Philharmonic and/or a contemporary rhythm section. As with Ray Sings, Basie Swings, Love Letters from Ella has undeniable appeal. Recorded in the 1970s, the great singer is in fine, relaxed, late-season form on a collection of ballads including "My Old Flame" and "Cry Me a River" and medium tempo tunes including "Withcraft" and "Our Love is Here to Stay." (There is also a pair of unaltered, previously unreleased performances by Ella and Basie and band and a 1983 track teaming her with Andre Previn.) The new orchestrations by Jorge Calandrelli are tasteful, and the edits are clean. But if you're going to play these archival games, you owe it to listeners to spell out what was done and why in greater track-by-track detail than is done here. Exactly what old accompaniment did the new accompaniment replace? Did a duet with guitarist Joe Pass really need to be "updated" with a rhythm section? When record companies start thinking these things don't matter, jazz is in even bigger trouble than we thought. --Lloyd Sachs
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Manufacturer: Concord Records
Release date: 31 July 2007
EAN: 0888072302136 UPC: 888072302136
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