Stormy Weather

Ella Fitzgerald sings in Germany, 1975.

I don't know how long it had been since I heard a live version of this song. But I did yesterday, at a small venue on Roncesvalle Avenue in Toronto. A late afternoon performance by a very talented singer by the name of James Christopher who had one of those voices like Mel Torme - best described as 'smoky velvet'.

It is one of my favourites. Written way before I was even born (I know, I know, pre-Cambrian times!). Ella was 68 when she performed this version. Ill with diabetes, nearly blind, but the voice, one of the most remarkable ever, still intact and luscious.

I never tire of her. Often on long journeys in my car I will play all of her greats. Stormy Weather seems appropriate for these times, the uncertain state of the planet -the unastable regions, the climate change, the (perhaps) Peak Oil situation and the overall economic instability.