PREVIN & THE PITTSBURGH: ELLA FITZGERALD (TV)

Summary

One in this series of music programs featuring the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and conductor Andre Previn in an evening of music and interviews. In this program, legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald performs with an instrumental trio including Paul Smith on piano, Jimmie Smith on drums, and Keter Betts on bass. Alternating with the musical segments is Previn's interview with Fitzgerald, who discusses the following topics, among others: her early career singing for bandleaders Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie, and the differences between them; her nickname "Lady Time"; her original ambition to be a dancer, which changed at an amateur performance at the Apollo Theater; her tiny repertoire of songs as a beginning performer; opera singer Dame Janet Baker's estimation of her vocal equipment as "perfect"; her performance in the movie "Pete Kelly's Blues"; and her series of "Songbook" albums, showcasing the standards of great popular composers. Fitzgerald and the trio perform the following songs: "Lady Be Good" (in two versions, one rousingly uptempo and one in a slow ballad style); "I'm Just a Lucky So And So"; "I Won't Dance"; "Hard Hearted Hannah"; "Glad To Be Unhappy"; "They Can't Take That Away From Me"; and "It's All Right With Me." At the conclusion of the program, Previn accompanies Fitzgerald on the piano for an improvised song featuring Fitzgerald's extemporized lyrics recounting the evening's events, followed by a hushed reading of "Like Someone in Love."

Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1997.

Details

• NETWORK: WQED / PBS
• DATE: April 3, 1979 Tuesday 8:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:58:43
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T:11503
• GENRE: Music; Talk/Interviews
• SUBJECT HEADING: Biography; Interviews; Jazz; Music, popular (songs, etc.)
• SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1977-1979
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Dale Bell … Executive Producer
• Stephen Dick … Producer
• Linda Blythe … Associate Producer
• John Cosgrove … Production (Misc.), Production Manager
• Hugh Downing … Director
• Jill Philipson … Direction (Misc.), Assistant Director
• Jay Rayvid … Direction (Misc.)
• Andre Previn … Music (Misc. Credits), Musical Director, Host, Interviewer, Performer, Pianist
• Ella Fitzgerald … Performer, Singer, Guest
• Paul Smith … Performer, Pianist
• Jimmie Smith … Performer, Percussionist
• Keter Betts … Performer, Bassist
• Dame Janet Baker
• Basie, William "Count"
• Duke Ellington
• Dizzy Gillespie