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Ella Fitzgerald

The Moment of Truth - Ella At The Coliseum

Verve
Release Date: December 6, 2024

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In A Mellow Tone (Live At The Coliseum)
Melissa Manchester & Ella Fitzgerald 1977 Memorex Commercial
1 The Moment Of Truth  
2 Don't Be That Way  
3 You've Changed  
4 Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)  
5 Bye Bye Blackbird  
6 Alfie  
7 In a Mellow Tone  
8 Music to Watch Girls By  
9 Mack The Knife  
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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, full album release coming soon 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.

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