You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To (1987)

You’d be so nice to come home to,
You’d be so nice by the fire,
While the breeze, on high, sang a lullaby,
You’d be all that I could desire.
Under stars, chilled by the winter,
Under an August moon, burning above,
You’d be so nice, you’d be paradise
To come home to and love

Almost Blue

taken from Wikipedia:

In 1983, British singer Elvis Costello, a longtime fan of Baker, hired the trumpeter to play a solo on his song “Shipbuilding“, from the album Punch the Clock. The song was a top 40 hit in the UK, and exposed a new audience to Baker’s music. Later, Baker would often feature Costello’s song “Almost Blue” in his live sets, and recorded the song on Let’s Get Lost.

Here is a short yet rare recording of Chet Baker singing that song:

If You Knew

Nina Simone in another heartbreaking performance.

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If you knew how I missed you
You would not stay away today

Angel Eyes (1958)

Here is Ella in another enthralling performance at The Frank Sinatra Show, 1958:

Angel Eyes (1957)

Where where where would we all be without her? She’s a complete bella, yes, Ella. How you make our world turn by the lilt in your sweet voice.

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This is a video of Ella in a performance at Amsterdam, 1957:

Try to think that love´s not around
But it´s uncomfortably near
My old heart ain´t gaining no ground
Because my angel eyes ain´t here

Angel eyes, that old devil sent
They glow unbearably bright
Need I say that my love´s misspent
Misspent with angel eyes tonight

Summertime (1968)

Ella Fitzgerald sings “Summertime“. I am again mesmerized. How could such feeling be so embodied in one pure voice such as this? I do feel lucky indeed, and very, very blessed for Ella’s music. She’s an angel. All of us are just a complete mess.

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One of these mornings
You’re going to rise up singing
Then you’ll spread your wings
And you’ll take to the sky

Mack the Knife (1965)

Another superb performance. Here’s Ella singing “Mack the Knife” with The Tommy Flannigan Trio.

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One Note Samba (1969)

A dish of hot talent. Ella Fitzgerald sings “One Note Samba” through scatting, while accompanied by Ed Thigpen on drums, Frank de la Rosa on bass, and Tommy Flannigan on piano. (June 22, 1969)

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The First Lady of Song

It’ something out of a dream: a voice, a woman, and that beautiful beautiful sound. Ella Fitzgerald for me has been one of the greatest contributors of all time to the history of jazz. Her supreme talent has brought a lot of artists and audiences alike to another world entirely.

taken from EllaFitzgerald.com

Dubbed “The First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums.Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, accurate and ageless. She could sing sultry ballads, sweet jazz and imitate every instrument in an orchestra. She worked with all the jazz greats, from Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Nat King Cole, to Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman. (Or rather, some might say all the jazz greats had the pleasure of working with Ella.)

She performed at top venues all over the world, and packed them to the hilt. Her audiences were as diverse as her vocal range. They were rich and poor, made up of all races, all religions and all nationalities. In fact, many of them had just one binding factor in common – they all loved her.

“Music comes out of her. When she walks down the street, she leaves notes.”
– Jimmy Rowles