NOEL KING, HOST:
All right. In 1960, Ella Fitzgerald won two Grammys for her live album, "Ella In Berlin: Mack The Knife." Two years later, she was back in front of an audience in Berlin. And for the first time, the public can hear that recording.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Gregg Field was a drummer for Ella Fitzgerald in the 1980s, and he helped to restore this recording.
GREGG FIELD: There are some nights that are great and some nights that are OK. But there are some nights where all the wheels are turning, where the whatever conspires to make something great.
(SOUNDBITE OF ALBUM, "ELLA IN BERLIN: MACK THE KNIFE")
ELLA FITZGERALD: Thank you.
FIELD: Certainly, "Mack The Knife" the audience was waiting for it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MACK THE KNIFE")
FITZGERALD: (Singing) Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear, and he shows them pearly white.
FIELD: It's a lesson in jazz singing. It's astounding.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MACK THE KNIFE")
FITZGERALD: (Singing) Has Macheath, dear, and he keeps it out of sight.
FIELD: I think this will be seen as one of her most important albums, certainly. It was sitting in a vault all of these years. When we were handed the tape box, it still had the yellow scotch tape that hadn't been opened.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MACK THE KNIFE")
FITZGERALD: Look out there, Bobby Darin, me and you both singing the same song (vocalizing).
KING: That's Ella Fitzgerald singing "Mack The Knife" on a recently released recording of a 1962 concert. It's called "The Lost Berlin Tapes." And producer Gregg Field helped remix it for Verve Records. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
