Lost recordings of a 1967 Ella Fitzgerald concert, including her spin on the era’s pop songs such as Alfie and Music to Watch Girls By, have been rediscovered and prepared for release. That label is now releasing them for the first time, under the title The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum. Fitzgerald performs a series of jazz song standards, including Mack the Knife, Bye Bye Blackbird, Cole Porter’s Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love) and You’ve Changed (made famous a decade earlier by Billie Holiday). A different live rendition has been previously heard – albeit as a muffled bootleg – but this is the first time a Fitzgerald version appears on record. Unlike some unearthed live recordings that suffer from muddy sound or distant vocals, The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum is remarkably clean, having been mixed and mastered from multitracked analogue tapes.

Source: The Guardian January 17, 2025 19:00 UTC