Ella Fitzgerald
The Moment Of Truth: Ella At The Coliseum 
(Verve)
★★★★

HERE’s an unexpected, very special present for Ella Fitzgerald fans.

Discovered in the private collection of Verve Records founder Norman Granz, this never previously released set is taken from a 1967 concert the jazz singing legend performed at the Oakland Coliseum with members of The Duke Ellington Orchestra.

Then 50-years old, Fitzgerald is on fine form — her vocals are fabulous and she’s in a playful mood, with lots of jokey, sometimes flirty, patter with the appreciative audience.
 
At the end of a show-stopping Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love) she improvises lines about The Beatles, Sonny & Cher and James Bond all doing it (falling in love, that is). 

For me, the highlights are her breezily melancholic version of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s 1966 hit Alfie, and a groovy take of Music to Watch Girls By.

My Morning Jacket
is
(ATO)
★★★★

26 YEARS on from their debut, Louisville, Kentucky’s My Morning Jacket aren’t just still going strong, they are making some of the best music of their career.

Frontman Jim James has previously produced or co-produced every one of the band’s albums, creating some of the biggest guitar rock of his generation — check out their great bear of an album It Still Moves. On their new record he has relinquished the producer’s chair to Brendon O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen), who has brought a poppy concision and crisp sound to proceedings.

There are lots of hooks and catchy riffs, from Lemme Know with its ’80s computer game-style electronica intro to the ancient-sounding piano riff (apparently a sample of country legend Buddy Emmons) that underpins the gorgeously pensive anthem Time Waited.

With great song following great song, it’s an inspired set.

Toria Wooff
Toria Wooff
(Sloe Flower)
★★★

THE press release for Toria Wooff’s debut album talks about the gothic folk she plays, influenced by the Lancashire moors, Fairport Convention and books like the British Library’s Tales Of The Weird.

This is so out of kilter with my impression of the music, I genuinely wondered if there had been a mix up and I had been sent the press release for another artist. 

I hadn’t. What I hear is an impressive singer-songwriter from Bolton playing some delightful American-influenced country-folk. Scott Foley’s pedal steel works wonders on Lefty’s Motel Room, while Wooff’s soaring vocals on The Plough remind me of altcountry star Neko Case.

An assured first record from an able newcomer (who is also a painter), and if you are a fan of artists like Jewel, Kasey Chambers and Katherine Priddy then you’ll find much to enjoy here.