JAZZ REVIEW : A Vigorous Ella at the Bowl

Ella Fitzgerald quickly dispelled any trepidations about what time and a decade-long series of health problems might have visited upon the much-celebrated first lady of jazz with her performance Wednesday night at the Hollywood Bowl.

In a performance that is certainly deserving of yet another cry of “Triumph!,” Fitzgerald showed that 71 is just a number and that a willing spirit more than compensates for a weakened body.

Before an adoring crowd of 14,623, Fitzgerald, working with pianist Mike Lang, bassist Keeter Betts and drummer Roy McCurdy, delivered a pair of sets that revealed that only her gait has slowed. Her gifts--a heaven-sent voice, impeccable time and a sense of phrasing that verily defines jazz--were in perfect form as she breezily sang selections from a familiar repertoire of classic tunes.

Opening with a spirited rendition of “It’s All Right,” she seemed to be delivering the first of several messages about herself. But none was more poignant than a line from “ ‘Tain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do,” a tune closely associated with the late Helen Humes. “I’m gonna do just as I want to anyway,” Fitzgerald sang defiantly. The crowd cheered its approval.

Fitzgerald’s wide-ranging voice has endured time well. She reached the high notes with confidence and grumbled out the low ones with characteristic elan. In between came a mid-range that was lent perfectly to the swing tunes (“Too Close for Comfort,” “Shiny Stockings,” “Squeeze Me”) and beautifully to the ballads (“Do Nothin’ Til You Hear From Me,” “That Old Devil Called Love,” “More Than You Know”).

And of course, her scatting on a wordless 12-bar blues and the self-deprecating (the way she sings it) “Lady Is a Tramp” continues to provide the model for all the other singers.

Guitarist Joe Pass, who performed a musically magnificent and technically awesome solo set that began with “It’s a Wonderful World” and ended with “a blues in G with a bridge,” joined Fitzgerald for a too-brief set of duets.

Cole Porter’s “Love for Sale” was their opening tour de force, followed by four more equally effective tunes, including a gently swinging reading of “Lady Be Good” and the classic Porter gem, “Night and Day.”

Back with her fellas, Ella closed out the evening with a brief set that included a sparkling rendition of “Honeysuckle Rose,” Billie Holiday’s mournful “Good Morning Heartache,” Joe Williams’s joyful “All Right, OK, You Win” and the night’s only train wreck, a band-bungled version of “Mr. Paganini.” Her encore of Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” was the show’s closing delight.

Fitzgerald herself posed the most appropriate question of the night when she gently sang, accompanied only by Pass, “How Long Has This Been Going On?” The answer is a resounding “Not long enough.”