Hand drawn animated Ella Fitzgerald video debuts

“Cheek To Cheek” appears on forthcoming Hollywood Bowl live album

The majesty and magic of Ella Fitzgerald performing live is brought to vivid life in the new animated video for the incredible, one-of-a-kind performance of her beloved tune, “Cheek To Cheek,” recorded live at the Hollywood Bowl on August 16, 1958 with a full orchestra, conducted and arranged by Paul Weston. Directed and animated by London-based artist Sharon Liu, the whimsical, beautifully hand drawn and painted video pays homage to the world-famous venue which played such a pivotal part in Fitzgerald’s story and celebrates The First Lady of Song through a dazzling array of gorgeous, ever-changing gowns as she struts and twirls across colorful scenes while masterfully singing the timeless tune.

“Ella’s music has always been a favorite in my household, so I feel incredibly honored to create this music video for the legendary Ella Fitzgerald’s special live recording,” Sharon Liu said. “Every single frame of the video is hand drawn and artworked, each color is hand painted on a separate layer for each frame. I feel that hand drawn animation is the perfect visual accompaniment for jazz!”

“Cheek To Cheek” is from the forthcoming release, Ella At The Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook, which will be released June 24th via Verve/UMe, and is the second track previewing the album, following the live rendition of “Puttin’ On The Ritz,” which is accompanied by an animated video, directed by Alberto Baroni, that cleverly brings the song and Giulia Pelizzaro’s dynamic album art to life.

Ella At The Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook will be available on CD, vinyl, limited edition yellow splatter vinyl, and digitally. This landmark record, discovered in the private collection of producer and Verve Records founder Norman Granz, marks the first time a live Songbook has been released from Fitzgerald. It is also significant in that it captures the only time Fitzgerald worked in concert with arranger-conductor Paul Weston. And, although she performed regularly at the Hollywood Bowl, this is the first full-length concert by Fitzgerald from this iconic venue to be released (notably, Fitzgerald was featured prominently on Verve’s Jazz At The Hollywood Bowl album, recorded and released in 1956, the year Granz formed the label). The live tracks were mixed from the original quarter-inch tapes by Grammy Award-winning producer and musician Gregg Field who played drums for Fitzgerald in her later years. The album is rounded out with insightful liner notes about the concert and Ella’s Songbook series by noted author and music critic, Will Friedwald.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com