Ella and Basie: A Perfect Match
This is a live recording from Montreaux in 1979 with members of the Count Basie Orchestra backing Ella. Critics say she had begun to fade in the late 70s, but I think she was still superb.
This contains my favorite live interpretation of 'Round Midnight. So much feeling in this version.
I bought two versions of the disc. One, a reissue from Fantasy/Pablo Records from 1987 (Universal 2006) and a 20Bit Remastered from the JVC Heritage Series (also from 2006).
I was lucky to find a sealed copy of both, one from a seller on Amazon in NC and the JVC one from a record store in Hong Kong. The cd from NC, arrived after 3 weeks today. The Hong Kong disc arrived after only 8 days!
The original CD on top is embarrassingly basic. No liner notes, no back cover, and features a fuzzy front image.
The Japanese reissue is much better and looks like a mini LP version of the original Pablo LP album:
I created wav files of both and transferred them to my digital player.
As for the sound, the Japanese version sounds more dynamic. It is remastered louder, so I tried my best to level match the two with an SPL app on my phone. The original recording is fine, but the 20Bit version has more warmth, depth, dynamics, and detail - a more 'you are there', 'hearing closer into the live feed' feeling.