Mack the Knife / Ella in Berlin

Presented here is the complete original LP Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife (Verve MGV4041), containing Ella Fitzgerald's celebrated performance at the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin, Germany, in its entirety. She is backed by an allstar quartet featuring Jim Hall on guitar, and Paul Smith on piano. The 1960 concert became one of Ella's most popular albums ever, winning two Grammy awards in 1960. On that concert she performed an amazing reading of the Weill-Brecht classic "Mack the Knife" including lyrics of her own. A complete rarely heard performance in Cannes that was taped in July 1959, and two 1956 tracks recorded live at the Hollywood Bowl (mistakenly included on some issues of Ella in Berlin under the false belief that they formed part of the 1960 concert) have been added here as a bonus. This set also includes two rare studio versions of standard tunes sung in German, taped in Copenhagen in 1961 and originally issued on a 7" single.

ELLA FITZGERALD, vocals

PAUL SMITH, piano

JIM HALL, guitar

WILFRED MIDDLEBROOKS, bass

GUS JOHNSON, drums

Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany, February 13, 1960.