JAZZ REVIEW : FIRST LADY OF SONG IN TOP FORM

Advisory to any concerned friends who could not be at the Hollywood Bowl Wednesday: Not to worry. Ella Fitzgerald is doing just fine, thank you.

In her first major local appearance since a protracted illness (she had a break-in booking last March at El Camino College), the eternal First Lady of Song was in superlative form. She brought passion to “Summertime:” joy to “Manteca,” humor to “Mack the Knife,” fire and flame to “Cherokee.” She displayed her bilingual chops on “Agua de Beber,” her scat expertise on “Take the A Train” and her flair for uncovering little-known verses on “Funny Face,” a 60-year-old song by the Gershwins.

In a word, she was Ella Fitzgerald, a singer communicating the exuberance, the control, the spirit one often yearns to find in most vocalists a third of her age.

However--and this is a big however--there was something very wrong with the manner in which this concert--widely advertised as the first in the Bowl’s summer “Jazz at the Bowl” series--was conceived and executed.

Throughout the 40-minute opening set and much of her post-intermission appearance, which kept her on-stage for almost an hour, Fitzgerald was accompanied not by a jazz group, but by an orchestra, varying in size from 25 to 44, under the baton of Lalo Schifrin. The guitarist Joe Pass, central to so many Fitzgerald concerts over the years, was missing. Such first-rate jazzmen as the trumpeter Bobby Bryant, the trombonist Buster Cooper and the saxophonists Bob Cooper and Harold Land, were busy reading their parts and had so little solo work that one longed for a small group jam along the lines of “Jazz at the Philharmonic” with which Fitzgerald used to work so happily.

Too often the orchestra seemed like excess baggage, especially when the 19 strings sat around unused, looking foolish and expendable. On such songs as “Days of Wine and Roses,” “Willow Weep for Me” the tempos and rhythm-heavy arrangements were out of keeping with the poignant spirit of the lyrics. During “St. Louis Blues” it was embarrassing to see the strings sawing away on a tune that cried out for intimacy and simplicity.

How much of this was Schifrin’s fault cannot be determined, since the arrangers were not credited, but the whole idea of turning this into a predominately pops concert was at odds with the supposed premise of the evening.

The second half brought partial relief. Schifrin took over at the piano to offer four numbers, one of which was his popular “Mannix” theme--requested, he said, by “Mees Fizzeral.” (Later, Ella returned the compliment by thanking “Lalo Schiffman.”) An arrangement of “Happy Birthday,” which he wrote for the recent Dizzy Gillespie tribute at Wolf Trap, showed that Schifrin can still play attractive jazz piano, but as an arranger he seemed unable to shake the studios out of his system. His attempt to write a Basie type jazz instrumental was too derivative to have much significance, despite a good rhythm section with Frank Capp on drums and John Clayton on bass.

Next, Fitzgerald’s own rhythm section (Paul Smith, piano; Keter Betts, bass, and Jeff Hamilton, drums) accompanied her in a couple of pieces that offered surcease. The orchestra redeemed itself, backing her well on “God Bless the Child,” which she brought to a great emotional climax. It even managed to swing in “Shiny Stockings.”

In short, this was a triumph that rested almost entirely on the 69-year-old shoulders of a magnificent survivor. Fitzgerald received the reaction she deserved--three standing ovations, two encores--and attracted an audience to match, a very healthy 15,153.