Ella Fitzgerald with Joe Pass Sings "Stormy Weather"

Ella Fitzgerald's voice had its distinctive girlish qualities that stretched from d to c above high c. She also had an agility that could be quite amazing to those who never heard her taking off on one of her sugar-rush scat singing. She could also, in moments of high humor, imitate all of her colleagues in singing, from Louis Armstrong to Aretha Franklin. These imitations were meant only in fun and she truly admired everyone.

Although critics have faulted Ella for not being able to project too much feeling into her performances of ballads, she was known shake some of the rudest of critics with a performance as meltingly done as this one of "Stormy Weather" which here is done with master fretman Joe Pass, her partner for part of the 1970's. This rendition comes from a 1975 appearance in Hanover, Germany.