Tag Archives: London Symphony Orchestra

What a way to celebrate this year’s end: A never-before-released live recording by Ella Fitzgerald

Forget the champagne and finger sandwiches. The best way to close out the year is with the important Verve Records and UMe release, the last gem celebrating their year-long celebration of Ella Fitzgerald’s centennial.  More than 60 years after it was recorded, Ella At Zardi’s will finally be released on CD and digital December 1. 

Recorded on February 2, 1956 at Zardi’s Jazzland in Hollywood, Ella At Zardi’s features the entirety of the evening’s two-set, 21-song performance, which captures an inspired Fitzgerald, backed by a stellar trio comprised of pianist Don Abney, bassist Vernon Alley and drummer Frank Capp, singing and swinging in front of an animated, adoring crowd, just days before she’d go on to record the album that would catapult her to stardom.

The concert was originally recorded by Norman Granz to celebrate the creation of, and Fitzgerald’s signing to, Verve Records, which Granz founded largely to give Fitzgerald the attention that he felt she wasn’t receiving at her then-current label, Decca. Ella At Zardi’s was planned as the label’s inaugural release but shelved in favor of the now-classic studio album Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book, which kicked off a best-selling, signature series of Song Book releases. The Zardi’s tapes languished in Verve’s vaults for six decades.

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Ella At Zardi’s captures the brilliance and inspiration Fitzgerald’s performances embodied at the time. As veteran jazz journalist Kirk Silsbee observes in the album’s liner notes, “We can hear a fluid and joyous singer who operates with almost giddy authority. Ella manages to find a way of swinging almost every number, no matter the tempo. Ella uses her intelligent phrasing and rhythmic sense in inventive and exhilarating ways. Her repertoire was vast and she didn’t always remember the correct lyrics of a song. But the way she spontaneously redesigns the text in the most musical of ways is Fitzgerald’s signature.”

Ella At Zardi’s caps off Verve/UMe’s slate of releases in celebration of “Ella 100,” which has included the four-CD set 100 Songs For A Centennial; the six-LP vinyl box set Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George & Ira Gershwin Song Books and Someone to Watch Over Me, which marries Fitzgerald’s vocals with new instrumental tracks by the London Symphony Orchestra. The centennial has also seen the first-ever digital releases of her rare early singles for the Decca label.

Ella At Zardi’s stands out for its history-making rediscovery of a vintage performance by one of jazz’s greatest artists. As Granz enthuses in his stage introduction, “This is for real; for me she’s the greatest there is—Miss Ella Fitzgerald!”

2CELLOS make the “Score” with their new CD, a tribute to great film scores

We’ve always thought things that come in pairs are doubly delightful. Abbott and Costello, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Dolly Parton.

Witness the genius of 2Cellos, music’s most electric and dynamic instrumental duo. They  go to the movies on their new Portrait/Sony Music Masterworks album Score, available March 17. Bringing 2Cellos’ game-changing sound and style to the most popular melodies written for classic and contemporary movies and television, Score will be supported by a world tour, kicking off with its U.S. leg this summer. The new video for Game of Thrones is out now–enjoy.

An international sensation since their unique video version of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” rocked YouTube with millions of hits in 2011, the Croatian cellists Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser have created three albums for Sony Music Masterworks. Score finds them exploring a more traditional sound-world. Joining them here–to provide the ideal aural backdrop to their virtuosity–is the London Symphony Orchestra, with conductor/arranger Robin Smith at the helm.

“We love movie music,” says Stjepan. “This album represents some of our favorite pieces of music by our favorite film composers. Having the opportunity to arrange them for cello whilst working with the world class London Symphony Orchestra has been a dream come true.” The duo say that they choose songs that could be adapted into covers playable on only two cellos.  

Score opens with an arrangement of Ramin Djawadi’s melodies that score Game of Thrones, culminating in the bold Main Title theme, in which the stirring sound of cellos announces each of what may be the most eagerly awaited episodes in contemporary television.

Themes that drove some of the biggest epics in movie history are also featured in fresh new treatments–favorite Oscar-winning themes from James Horner’s score for Titanic (“My Heart Will Go On”); John Williams’ score for Schindler’s List; Vangelis’s score for Chariots of Fire; as well as “For the Love of a Princess” from Braveheart; “May It Be” from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”; and the inspiring “Now We Are Free” from Gladiator.

The vocal beauty of the cello’s sound is a perfect match for a brace of romantic themes. They include the Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer song “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s; Ennio Morricone’s beautiful themes for Cinema Paradiso and Malena; Nino Rota’s love theme for The Godfather; Francis Lai’s Oscar-winning theme from Love Story; Hans Zimmer’s theme from Rain Man; and Stanley Myers’ haunting “Cavatina” heard in The Deer Hunter.

2Cellos have forged a signature style that breaks down the boundaries between genres of music, from classical and film music to pop and rock. As impressive when playing Bach and Vivaldi as they are when rocking out, Sulic and Hauser know no limits when it comes to performing live. They have sold out shows around the globe and also performed with Sir Elton John as part of his band, as well as opening his shows to rapturous acclaim.

2Celloswere the first instrumentalists to be featured on Glee. They have also appeared multiple times on The Today Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show in addition to The Tonight Show, The Bachelor Live Wedding Special among others.  Their self-titled debut album, In2ition and Celloverse are available on Sony Music Masterworks.