Summertime sizzle
Catch this swinging centenary tribute to the great Ella Fitzgerald, writes
IF SHE had lived, Ella Fitzgerald would have celebrated her centenary birthday this year. In tribute to the legendary singer, Anna Davel and Sima Mashazi are presenting Ella Fitzgerald – A Century in Song for four performances, from December 19 to 22, in the Artscape Arena.
Davel and Mashazi will be accompanied on stage by Melissa van der Spuy (piano) and Wesley Rustin (bass). Audiences will get a sense of a swing band in the intimacy of the arena, which is what Davel – the musical director and conceptualiser of the show – is aiming for.
There will be a minimum of chitchat between numbers. Davel says: “Ella said in several interviews that she preferred not to talk about herself or her music, and would much rather sing. Quoting her: ‘I don’t want to say the wrong thing, which I always do. I think I do better when I sing.’
“So I decided to do very few links and keep the history lessons to a minimum. The show is mostly music, with a few interesting tales.”
Both Davel and Mashazi are accomplished singers and musicians. Mashazi wowed us in 2017 as the young Miriam in Mama Africa: the Musical.
As to why Davel decided to do this show, she says: “I read an article about Ella Fitzgerald and realised that it would’ve been her 100th birthday, so I embraced the idea of celebrating her. She recorded more than 2000 songs, many of them international hits.
“I’ve known Sima for many years and done concerts with her, and we’ve interacted socially and get along very well, so it was an easy choice to ask her to do the show with me.”
The show’s format includes solos of Davel and Mashazi doing their favourite Ella songs, and some duets.
Gershwin’s iconic, elegiac Summertime – which Fitzgerald sang so poignantly – will be featured. It’s estimated that there are over 25000 recordings of this, but Fitzgerald’s famous recording of the song with Louis Armstrong on the album that they collaborated on in 1958 is untouchable – a studio album of songs from Porgy and Bess.
In 2001– 43 years after it was recorded – it was awarded a Grammy Hall of Fame Award to honour recordings at least 25 years old that have made a historical and artistic impact.
Sitting in the intimate Artscape Arena and listening to Summertime and numbers from the Ella Fitzgerald songbook in the Cape Town summer is bound to be wondrous.
■ Tickets R120. Book at Computicket or Artscape, 0214217695.