In between Jazz at the Philharmonic dates in early 1959, Norman Granz sent out a slimmed-down package of Ella Fitzgerald and her quartet, plus Roy Eldridge, to play concerts in various parts of Europe. This Copenhagen event is one such, with Roy grandstanding his way towards Ella's set with some typical trumpet fireworks that are only saved from a sense of going through the motions by his swinging virtuosity.

But when Ella herself arrives on stage and eases into her opening ‘Cheek to Cheek’, we’re immediately brought into a different jazz landscape, as her professionalism seems to connect with the audience at once. Frankly, the accompanying quartet lacks the spontaneous swing of Ella's earlier years on JATP with Oscar Peterson's trios and quartets, partly because of Levy's slightly lumpy and uninspiring playing, which doesn't give Herb Ellis the same accompanying and solo opportunities to shine that he’d had with Oscar. But that said, whether Ella's swinging her way through ‘Alright OK You Win’ or settling into the languid and perfectly poised ballad ‘All I Need Is You’, it's still a polished and worthwhile Ella performance. By the time she launches into her closing set-piece ‘How High The Moon’, it's been quite a roller-coaster listen, but overall a snapshot of a great and charismatic singer doing exactly what she does best.