Ella Fitzgerald - Mack the Knife: Ella in Berlin

Mack the Knife: Ella in Berlin is Ella Fitzgerald at her most fearless, captured live in 1960 and pressed here on 180-gram vinyl.

Recorded at Berlin's Deutschlandhalle and produced by Norman Granz, the concert found Ella backed by the Paul Smith Quartet, with Jim Hall on guitar, Wilfred Middlebrooks on bass and Gus Johnson on drums. It became one of the best-loved live jazz albums ever released, earning Grammy recognition and cementing her reputation as a singer who could turn any mishap into magic. The band follows her every daring turn with sensitivity and swing.

The legendary moment arrives with Mack the Knife, where Ella loses the lyrics partway through and simply invents new ones on the spot, cheerfully narrating her own memory lapse to the delight of the crowd. How High the Moon is an astonishing scat marathon, tossing in quotations from one tune after another at breakneck speed, while Misty and Summertime show the warmth and control of her ballad singing.

Few live records capture a performer's charm, wit and sheer musicianship so completely. More than six decades later it still sounds spontaneous and thrilling, the audience's delight practically audible in the grooves, and it remains a cornerstone of any vocal jazz collection.