Recorded at the 1996 Kerrville Folk Festival on the night of Ella's death, this '98 release is not a jazz recording, on which Odetta sings Ella's material, but rather it honors Odetta's and Ella's shared roots in American gospel and folk music. Odetta fans will appreciate the matriarch's always powerful guitar and voice paying homage to one of the many women singers who've influenced her music. Ella fans will appreciate the insight into the musical traditions that inspired the jazz singer. 'If ever there was a melting pot in this country, I think it's been in the music,' Odetta says during the 27-minute medley Suite: Ancestors. And if there ever was a musician who respected the power of that music, it's Odetta.

Odetta