The previous essay and this one make up a “master class” on improvisation: Five performances by Ella Fitzgerald of Billy Strayhorn’s “Take the ‘A’ Train,” all recorded during ten.
I remember several recordings of "My Lean Baby," the first I heard on a Columbia LP billed as "A Buck Clayton Jam Session" that was one of the first in my collection.
I prefer the artistry of the Crescendos to the TV version. For me the TV take comes off hectic at times, something of an exercise. I'd say the same about "Air Mail Special" from Ella in Hollywood.
This stuff is really quite wonderful, especially the London set and the BBC recording of it. I watched the two BBC programs in the link, and found he audio and music mix quite good, also video production, direction, and camera work. They have Ella on a very nice German Omni mic, which has none of the bass boost issues of mics used in sound reinforcement, so her voice is quite natural throughout. On one of the orchestral tracks, I thought I heard the hand of Nelson Riddle in a french horn voicing.
I worked in television in the early '60s, and picture quality on video recording was considerably better than what's on the BBC programs. A far better transfer could be made of the original tape if it's still available. Examples of much better transfers are on the Ella Jazz Icons DVD from Denmark in '57 and Sweden in '63. Another much better example is on my The Sound of Jazz" Laserdisc, which is from a kinescope, which is inferior to the 2-in videotape that came on the scene around '59.
Videotape was a big new thing in the early '60s, and the station where I worked as a college freshman, in Huntington WV, had two machines full of vacuum tubes, with two full time engineers whose only job was to keep them running. We were the only station around with two machines, so they did a lot of dubbing of programs and commercials for other stations. :) And this was still B/W.
I consider these audio and video quality issues important, because they can cause younger listeners to experience this as "old-timey" stuff, whereas great quality carries much more of the impact of the performance.
Absolutely, the old audio is part of what keeps younger listeners from relating to old jazz. You're very observant to have even noticed the mike used on the BBC show. And you're quite right that Jazz Icons folks are a class act. THANKS JIM!
The tune she quotes at 2:15 on the video version is “My Lean Baby” or “Lean Baby” which is the name Sinatra recorded it under in 1953
https://youtu.be/j7kLgMaEaUs?si=26mi-phZTEqXKoMm
https://youtu.be/oSatbHoTcGM?si=Fh_umTSo0e_A3rRT
That's it! I'm adding that to the essay--"Lean Baby" is really the correct title and all but a few versions are under that name--THANK YOU ANDREW
I remember several recordings of "My Lean Baby," the first I heard on a Columbia LP billed as "A Buck Clayton Jam Session" that was one of the first in my collection.
Yes, that recording is a delight:
https://youtu.be/0iQzpPXoNKg?si=dsFnQDNsmcfl20qN
I prefer the artistry of the Crescendos to the TV version. For me the TV take comes off hectic at times, something of an exercise. I'd say the same about "Air Mail Special" from Ella in Hollywood.
There is definitely something to be said for a nightclub, where there is no time pressure. THANKS
I didn't sense that at all
Thanks Jim. Seems like a case where we hear the music differently. The most obvious problematic chorus for me begins at 2:02.
This stuff is really quite wonderful, especially the London set and the BBC recording of it. I watched the two BBC programs in the link, and found he audio and music mix quite good, also video production, direction, and camera work. They have Ella on a very nice German Omni mic, which has none of the bass boost issues of mics used in sound reinforcement, so her voice is quite natural throughout. On one of the orchestral tracks, I thought I heard the hand of Nelson Riddle in a french horn voicing.
I worked in television in the early '60s, and picture quality on video recording was considerably better than what's on the BBC programs. A far better transfer could be made of the original tape if it's still available. Examples of much better transfers are on the Ella Jazz Icons DVD from Denmark in '57 and Sweden in '63. Another much better example is on my The Sound of Jazz" Laserdisc, which is from a kinescope, which is inferior to the 2-in videotape that came on the scene around '59.
Videotape was a big new thing in the early '60s, and the station where I worked as a college freshman, in Huntington WV, had two machines full of vacuum tubes, with two full time engineers whose only job was to keep them running. We were the only station around with two machines, so they did a lot of dubbing of programs and commercials for other stations. :) And this was still B/W.
I consider these audio and video quality issues important, because they can cause younger listeners to experience this as "old-timey" stuff, whereas great quality carries much more of the impact of the performance.
Absolutely, the old audio is part of what keeps younger listeners from relating to old jazz. You're very observant to have even noticed the mike used on the BBC show. And you're quite right that Jazz Icons folks are a class act. THANKS JIM!