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Ella Fitzgerald GOLD VERVE CD Set 5896472

 

CD1

1. Let’s fall in Love
2. Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye
3. Summertime
4. A Fine Romance
5. The Very Thought of You
6. Mack The Knife
7. Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)
8. Cheek to Cheek
9. The Lady is a Tramp
10. Get Happy
11. I Get a Kick Out of You
12. Misty
13. Embraceable You
14. I Love Paris
15. I Can’t Give You Anything but Love
16. Georgia on My Mind
17. But Not for Me
18. Blue Skies
19. Someone to Watch Over Me

CD2

1. Manhattan
2. S’Wonderful
3. They Can’t Take That Away From Me
4. I’ve Got you Under my Skin
5. Stormy Weather
6. My Funny Valentine
7. Bewitched
8. These Foolish Things
9. With A Song in My Heart
10. There’s a Small Hotel
11. Night and Day
12. Let’s Face the Music and Dance
13. Puttin’ On the Ritz
14. Blue Room
15. Isn’t This A Lovely Day
16. Love is Here to Stay
17. I Only have Eyes for You
18. The Man I Love
19. Tenderly
20. I Could Write a Book

For me nothing could be more delightful than a couple hours of listening to Ella sing and for all her many fans this record is a must. It is of course a compilation album featuring her in various settings, from piano duets, to singing with a big band sometimes including strings. Not any band either; these are the very top US studio musicians with arrangements and musical direction out of the top draw.

The recordings were made in the period 1956 to 62, Ella was in her 40’s at that time and in excellent voice, but then she always was. Right up to a few years before her death in 1996, Ella was always in good form. Her voice has a unique quality that makes her instantly identifiable, she also had a unique delivery style that made her live performances even more exhilarating.

It is a pity that record companies when making compilations of what, in this case, are the definitive performances of many of these songs give the listener no useful information on the sleeve note. OK at about £15 for a double album it’s great value, but would it have reduced the profit dramatically to say which albums each item comes from. Who knows the purchaser may buy that one as well!

These songs are timeless and I feel sure that many of them are going to be around for a long time in the future. The composer credits of Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, The Gershwin Brothers, Irving Berlin, Richard Rogers and others are enough for me! Most of the tunes have already survived for 50 years or more and become what the jazz world calls ‘standards’.

Even if you already own the original albums, it is nice to hear this new mix of Ella at her very best, singing and swinging with the best musicians of the jazz and studio world.

Don Mather

 

 

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