ALL THAT JAZZ

REVIEWS

ELLA FITZGERALD The Lost Berlin Tapes (Verve).

This recording of an Ella Fitzgerald concert in West Berlin in March 1962 was not so much lost as hidden by her manager, Norman Granz. He may have planned it for future release and then forgotten it or wanted it for his private collection. Whatever its history, the appearance at last of this fine double CD set is most welcome. Backed by her regular trio of the time – Paul Smith on piano, Wilfred Middlebrooks on bass, Stan Levey on drums – Ella swings confidently through Cheek to Cheek, is slowly reflective on both Angel Eyes and Summertime, and then delivers a straight version of Cry Me A River that is a thousand miles from the seduction of Julie London, with whom the song is forever associated. The concert ends firstly with Mack The Knife, which she had sung so wonderfully on her previous visit to the city, and then with a sublime reading of Wee Baby Blues. Judging by the roar of the audience, it was good night out in Berlin.

THELONIOUS MONK Palo Alto (Impulse!).

As racial tensions increased across America during the increasingly violent summer of 1968, 16-year-old school student Danny Scher attempted to bring the divided communities of Palo Alto, California together by getting pianist Thelonious Monk and his quartet to play at his high school. Amazingly, Monk agreed, and so took to the school stage at 2pm on the afternoon of 27 October. Monk was past his best by this time, but he pulled out all the stops for a magical performance. The opening ballad Ruby, My Dear positively skips along, Well, You Needn’t is full of detail and event, while Blue Monk almost rocks with pleasure. Even Monk’s squeaky piano stool joins in the fun. A school gig usually promises little, but this performance was breathtaking. Never doubt the power of a schoolboy to get what he wants!

ELINA DUNI/ROB LUFT Lost Ships (ECM).

Albanian–Swiss singer Elina Duni’s fourth album for ECM finds her partnering with British guitarist Rob Luft in a set of collaborative performances alongside Swiss flugelhorn player Matthieu Michel and British pianist and multiinstrumentalist Fred Thomas. Duni and Luft first played together in 2017 and from there developed this set of songs of love and exile, producing “an album about contemporary issues facing us all … also an album about the places we’ve been and loved, places that no longer exist or continue to exist only as a fragment of our imagination.” Duni’s voice – she sings in four languages here – is clear and expressive in tone, both knowing and naïve in equal measure, while Luft’s guitar laps quietly away in the background. It’s all very subdued, and all the more wonderful for it.