Ella Fitzgerald

Today, Verve Records announces a new and never-before-released live concert album from the First Lady Of Song, Ella Fitzgerald. The Moment of Truth: Ella At The Coliseum, will be released on February 28th on all formats and the title track “The Moment of Truth” is out now. The recordings were mixed and mastered in stunning clarity from the original analog multitrack tapes, resulting in pristine high-fidelity audio typically unheard of for a live concert recording of that era.

The Moment Of Truth: Ella At The Coliseum was recorded at the Oakland Coliseum on June 30, 1967, and was recently unearthed in the private tape collection of Verve Records founder Norman Granz. The album spans nine tracks, most never heard before, and features Fitzgerald accompanied by members of The Duke Ellington Orchestra at its prime. The resulting recordings underscore Fitzgerald’s reputation as a renowned live performer (“utter perfection, personified” —The New York Times). There was never a moment when Ella didn’t deliver; every night was her Moment of Truth.

This live album marks a particularly interesting time in Fitzgerald’s career. In the summer of 1967, she was in the middle of an especially rewarding three-year tour run and recording collaboration with Duke Ellington, and was incorporating hit pop songs of the late-60s into her concert repertoire—two of which are presented here for the first time on record; “Alfie” and “Music To Watch Girls By” are both standouts on The Moment of Truth: Ella At The Coliseum. Encouraged by members of The Duke Ellington Orchestra on stage with her, Fitzgerald is both playful and powerful— she cracks jokes with the audience before stunning them with her unrivaled voice.

Fitzgerald’s band includes the rarely-heard but hard-swinging trio of Jimmy Jones, Bob Cranshaw, and Sam Woodyard, while the Ellington band captured here at its peak, featured Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams, Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges and Russell Procope. The First Lady Of Song meets The Duke’s Men — and it’s something to behold.

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