The strings of lights interlace with the evening sky to provide a glowing backdrop for the garden club arrangement. Making use of Perth’s balmy night weather at this time of year, Catherine Summers and her swinging jazz band deliver songs and stories of Ella Fitzgerald in the gardens of Lamont’s Bishops House, with a refreshing light drinks and menu available from the restaurant itself. Attendees are invited to settle themselves at tables according to their group size and there’s plenty of cosy small tables to create an intimate jazzy experience as you settle in to listen to skilled musicians recreate some of Ella’s legacy.
Ella Fitzgerald, known variously as the Queen of Jazz and the First Lady of Song, amongst other well deserved epithets, was noted for her musicality, purity of tone, improvisational scat singing, and was arguably the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for over half a century. Her diverse and voluminous catalogue provide a significant menu from which the “All About Ella” show can select and Catherine certainly provides treats ranging from well-known crowd favourites to more obscure yet always entrancingly performed pieces. Catherine Summers intersperses the songs with some banter and observations as well as snippets of insights to Ella Fitzgerald’s amazing musical career. Ella was also renowned for her vocal range and Catherine ably delivers these songs in a voice that will envelop you with full-bodied depth and also caress you with soft breathy tones, even in an open-air setting.
The accompanying band comprises talented and skilled musicians who will each comp through the night, providing the audience a delighted dose of their improvisational prowess. At times, the improvisations interact like a musical conversation and it is a true delight to witness the skill at play.
While Ella’s accomplishments and contributions exceed the musical, particularly as a Black woman in a country and world and time that made little space for her magnificence and her humanity, this show focuses on creating a relaxed jazzy experience. Sold out before the season opens, it’s not hard to see why.