IT’S ALL RIGHT, ELLA’S BACK

For Ella Fitzgerald, as for her audience, it was an emotional evening Saturday at El Camino College. It was her coming-out party after a long illness due to a heart ailment, and the packed house clearly knew it.

Reassurance came swiftly: Her opening song had an apt title, “It’s All Right With Me.” It was all right--and more than that during the second half, when she followed a time-honored custom by teaming with the guitarist Joe Pass. Though the two of them were on stage together for only four tunes, the sense of spontaneity brought out the best in this totally compatible couple.

Fitzgerald offered superb high-note endings. A perennial sense of pleasure was derived and imparted during the first half (backed by Paul Smith on piano, Keter Betts on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums) as she ranged through everything from “Wait Till You See Him” to “Agua De Beer” (in Portuguese) and the old Billie Holiday hit “Crazy He Calls Me.” Her low notes on the first, slow chorus of “Ghost of a Chance” were full and assured.

Before she joined forces with Pass, the guitarist offered a superlative set on his own, working finger-style much of the time but also using the plectrum to dazzling effect.

Pass stayed on stage with the trio, adding his welcome beat to the encores. One had the sense that the evening could have gone on indefinitely, and that Ella herself would have been happy to oblige.