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"...The sound quality is excellent, a masterful digital processing of the original analog tapes. The rhythm section is sometimes distant but never muffled, and Ella's voice—indeed her presence—is vivid. This may be the best-sounding live Ella on record."
I agree with Mr. Kaplan's excellent review of the performance, but I had a different experience listening to the sound. I haven't heard the vinyl version, but in terms of "best-sounding live Ella on record", according to JRiver audio analysis, the Verve CD/download version of "The Lost Tapes" appears to have been mastered with far less dynamic range (min 7 dB, max 9 dB) than, say the 1986 Verve CD release of her famous live album, Ella in Berlin (min 13 dB, max 14 dB). It sounds it.
Compared to the 1986 Verve CD of "Ella in Berlin", IMHO the sound on "The Lost Tapes" is bright and harsh, and the "never muffled" and "vivid" sound is an unwelcome consequence of the reduced dynamic range. I thought the CD/download sounds as if Ella and her accompanying musicians were recorded standing on a horizontal line on the stage