These two albums show the opposite extremes of Ella's talent – the consummate live performer, and the fine interpreter of songs in a studio setting. So, firstly, the latest re-packaging of Ella's famous concert from the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin in February 1960 brings us all the music from that night, minus some of the announcements and fanfares of the comparable reissue on her original label Verve, and is rounded out with two live tracks from the Hollywood Bowl and a pair of other European live concert sets. At the time the Berlin event was famous because she forgot the words to Kurt Weill's ‘Mack The Knife’. She sang “Oh, what's the next chorus to this song?” and continued, “Ella and her fellers, we're making a wreck of ‘Mack the Knife’!” Norman Granz actually capitalised on the moment that the normally flawless Ella showed her human side, promoting the album on the back of her error. So it is good to have the material available again, if only to hear how good the rest of the concert is, especially her exquisite version of ‘Misty’. However, it's only two years since Essential Jazz Classics released a double album with both this concert and her return visit the following year. That currently sells at around £12 with more than double the material, while this single CD retails at around £15. It's always tempting to fill a gap in a collection with an attractive new release, but in this case shopping around a bit might lead to a more rewarding and economic purchase.
The same observation applies to the lavishly and beautifully produced Like Someone In Love, in which Jazz Images have outdone the rather workaday reissue from Verve. It's always been a prized session as the only studio meeting between Stan Getz and Ella, as they both front Frank DeVol's orchestra. The reading of ‘More Than You Know’ is way up there with her finest and Getz is at his feature-ballad-best, appearing to create extra space around him on ‘What Will I Tell My Heart’. But why would one buy this single album at £8 when, for the same price or thereabouts, you can get the same material and two other albums, plus some fine bonus tracks, on Avid's second Three Classic Albums collection, released in 2014 and still in catalogue.