Ella Fitzgerald

INCLUDES 1 BONUS TRACK

"Porgy & Bess" (Verve MGV-4011-2, issued in 1957) was the last recorded collaboration between Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, coming after two small group LPs from the same period and several single sessions waxed in the mid-Forties. While the Gershwin opera is certainly a classic, this selection of songs from the play is a landmark in and of itself. It contains probably the most famous version of “Summertime” ever taped. A live version of that same tune recorded by Ella in Berlin in 1960 has been added here as a bonus.

PERSONNEL:

ELLA FITZGERALD, vocals
LOUIS ARMSTRONG, trumpet & vocals
Orchestra conducted by RUSSELL GARCIA
The Judd Conlon Singers added on track 15.

Recorded in Los Angeles, California,
August 18 (tracks 2, 5, 7 & 8),
August 19 (tracks 10, 13 & 15),
August 28 (tracks 3, 4, 6, 9 & 12 [“Here Come de Honey Man” & “Oh, Dey’s So Fresh and Fine”])
and October 14 (tracks 1, 11, 12 [“Crab Man”] & 14), 1957.

(*) BONUS TRACK:
Ella Fitzgerald (vcl), Paul Smith (p), Jim Hall (g),
Wilfred Middlebrooks (b), Gus Johnson (d).
Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany, February 13, 1960.

TRACKS:

01 OVERTURE
02 SUMMERTIME
03 I WANTS TO STAY HERE
04 MY MAN’S GONE NOW
05 I GOT PLENTY O’ NUTTIN’
06 BUZZARD SONG
07 BESS, YOU IS MY WOMAN NOW
08 IT AIN’T NECESSARILY SO
09 WHAT YOU WANT WID BESS?
10 A WOMAN IS A SOMETIME THING
11 OH, DOCTOR JESUS
12 MEDLEY: HERE COME DE HONEY MAN / CRAB MAN / OH, DEY’S SO FRESH AND FINE (STRAWBERRY WOMAN)
13 THERE’S A BOAT DAT’S LEAVIN’ SOON FOR NEW YORK
14 BESS, OH WHERE’S MY BESS?
15 OH, LAWD, I’M ON MY WAY
16 SUMMERTIME (*)

Total Time: 69:39