About the album

10 February 1961, the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. After a memorable performance in Berlin a year earlier, Fitzgerald was once again singing to a packed concert hall. Norman Granz, introduced the musicians. In her fresh, almost girlish voice and that hint of characteristic impertinence, she launched into “Too Close For Comfort”. By now the singer had the audience firmly in the palm of her hand. Fitzgerald settled in as if she were in her living room, welcoming each spectator like a privileged guest and each song she sang, a gracefully proffered glass of champagne. Ranging from the melancholy of “Heart And Soul” to her teasing in the midst of “Lorelei”, when she announced that she was about to strip, overall she was witty, dynamic and rousing. You could count on Ella, always resourceful, always entertaining. As Bing Crosby so aptly said, “Man, woman, or child, Ella is the greatest of them all.”