During the glory days of the BMG and Columbia House Record clubs when they offered 10 CDs for the price of 1/2; I found myself going deep on Ella Fitzgerald’s albums. I grabbed as many of her seminal Songbooks. She also had fine series of albums with Louis Armstrong that had to be in my collection. I couldn’t get enough of her wonderful voice. People visiting my apartment were taken back by the pile of Ella Fitzgerald titles mixed in with Motorhead and Throbbing Gristle. I have soft side for Ella. That’s why I’m excited that Ella & Basie “The Perfect Match” ’79 is out on DVD. This is video of their historic concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 12th, 1979.
Ella Fitzgerald is in full voice as she performs 15 songs including “Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone,” “Round Midnight,” “Flying Home,” Honeysuckle Rose” and “I’ve Got A Crush On You. There are four more songs here than what ended up on the original album release. Ella has the audience in Switzerland enthralled as her voices soars. Some of you might remember her breaking a glass in the commercial for Memorex cassettes. Ella doesn’t get that destructive on stage.
Count Basie was still riding high from his cameo in Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles. While Ella Fitzgerald performs her set with the Count Basie Orchestra, Basie only handles the piano on the improvised “Basella” during the encore. Paul Smith tinkles the ivories for the rest of the concert. Smith’s trio meshes well with the Count Basie Orchestra. It appears that Count Basie had done his own full set that day with the Orchestra. His fingers had already received a workout that evening. His Orchestra sounds great as they get into the swing of Ella’s performance.
A notice on the cover declares “Video Remastered in A.I.” Don’t panic and think that Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald will have wonky fingers. The concert was recorded on standard definition video in 1979 so the tape probably looked rather raw. The A.I program must have been used to make things look a little better. The best new is that the audio of the show was professional recorded and released as The Perfect Match. The live album won Ella Fitzgerald the Grammy for best Jazz vocal female. Now you can see what you might have already only just heard.
The great thing about Ella & Basie “The Perfect Match” ’79 is you can enjoy the concert for its 45th anniversary on July 12. That’s a Friday night so you can invite friends over for a swinging summer party. You might want to serve fondue to have that Swiss atmosphere when Ella Fitzgerald takes the stage.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame. You can see the giant bulky TV cameras used to capture a bit of the action. The tape has some age to it, but things look rather clean. The Audio is Dolby Digital Stereo. The audio is crystal clear compared to the video. Ella sounds as beautiful as ever.
Portrait of Norman Granz Narrated by Nat Hentoff (4:22) give us a sense of the man behind Verve records. He was a major fan of jazz. He wouldn’t drop less selling performers because he felt it was important to keep recording them. Granz was passionate about the musicians.
Interview with Nat Hentoff (3:18) has the legendary writer describe the show. He talks about Ella’s way worked with bands.
Portraits by David Stone Martin (0:37) are drawings of Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Norman Granz.
Pictures by George Braunschweig (3:06) are photographs of various players at the jazz festival.
Booklet with essays from Nat Hentoff and Tad Hershorn.
MVDvisual presents Ella & Basie “The Perfect Match” ’79. Starring Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. Running Time: 76 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: June 21, 2024.
