Happy 90th birthday to ‘first lady of song’

Any day is a good day to celebrate the life and music of Ella Fitzgerald. But what would have been her 90th birthday provides a particularly compelling date to recognize the most successful singer in the history of jazz.

The somewhat cumbersomely titled “Happy Birthday Ella: An All-Star Concert Celebrating the First Lady of Song: Ella Fitzgerald” at USC’s Galen Center on Saturday night missed her actual birthday by a few days (it was April 25), but no problem. The stellar event, recorded for broadcast June 6 for PBS’ “Great Performances,” was an impressive and entertaining tribute.

Appropriately, its most compelling moments were those in which -- via video and recordings -- Fitzgerald herself was singing, the selections illustrating both the diversity of her song selections and her remarkable capacity to sing everything with impeccable musicality. Best of all, on a pair of numbers -- “Cry Me a River” and “I’ve Got the World On a String” -- Fitzgerald’s vocals were mixed with live accompaniment from the USC Orchestra.

There was also plenty of star power. Natalie Cole, hosting the show with Quincy Jones, sang “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” to start the show and climaxed the event with a rousing duet version of “Mr. Paganini” with Patti Austin. Nancy Wilson brought her elegant interpretive manner to “Someone to Watch Over Me.” Stevie Wonder, singing and playing harmonica, transformed “Too Close for Comfort” into his own style. And Wynonna Judd somehow found gospel roots in “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

Soul singer Ledisi and “American Idol” finalist Kimberley Locke added contemporary spice. Tenor saxophonist James Moody, trumpeter Jon Faddis, pianist George Duke and drummer Gregg Field swingingly recalled Fitzgerald’s jazz roots in “Lady Be Good.” Smooth jazz surfaced in the sprightly form of saxophonist Dave Koz.

Fitzgerald probably would have been happy, however, that many of the tribute’s most musically engaging passages were provided by performers with somewhat less stellar magnitude. Austin’s “How High the Moon” -- happily repeated because of a technical glitch -- revealed her rapidly improving skills as a jazz artist. Lizz Wright, whose glowing promise of a few years ago dimmed too quickly, sang “Reaching for the Moon” and “Lullaby of Birdland” with a warmth and subtlety that bode well for her career. Monica Mancini moved beyond the coolness that sometimes afflicts her singing, offering instead an intimate, lush-toned rendering of “But Not for Me.” Take 6, blending remarkable vocal harmonies with effervescent rhythmic drive, nearly stole the show with “Just in Time.”

Always eager to support young talent, Fitzgerald would also likely have been pleased by the work of the USC musicians. Any one of the young singers who opened the show (prior to the taping) easily could have stepped to the front of the stage with the pros. And the Thornton Jazz Band’s version of Dizzy Gillespie’s thorny “Things to Come,” played with fiery passion and spot-on accuracy, marked it as an ensemble that deserves a much wider hearing.