Ella Fitzgerald

VIRGIN 180G. VINYL - GATEFOLD EDITION

One of the few great ladies of jazz song, Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) inflected each tune with her unique sense of swing. The songs selected here have been carefully chosen among her best works, composed by such names as Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart, and Duke Ellington. Many of these tunes were taken from the celebrated song books that gained her enormous prestige. These are all studio recordings with the sole exception of her celebrated reading of Kurt Weill’s “Mack the Knife” which was an absolute hit in her Ella in Berlin LP.

The version of “A-Tisket a-Tasket” presented here is a 1957 reworking of her original hit, which she had first recorded with the Chick Webb orchestra in 1938. Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Desafinado” was one of Ella’s first bossa nova recordings, taped when that music style was starting to win adepts in the United States, especially thanks to Stan Getz’s incursions in the genre. “Summertime” and “A Fine Romance” present Ella singing amazing vocal duets with Louis Armstrong. “Sophisticated Lady”, from Ella’s Duke Ellington Songbook, showcases her in a small group format featuring such stars as Ben Webster, Stuff Smith and Barney Kessel. “Misty” is a wonderful voice/ piano duet with her long-time accompanist, pianist Paul Smith.

ELLA FITZGERALD, vocals
On all tracks, plus:

A1, A2, A4, A6: Orchestra arranged & conducted by Buddy Bregman.
Los Angeles, February 7 (A2 & A4), August 21 (A6) & August 29 (A1), 1956.

A3: Louis Armstrong (tp, vcl).
Orchestra conducted & arranged by Russell Garcia.
Los Angeles, August 18, 1957.

A5: Orchestra arranged & conducted by Paul Weston.
Los Angeles, March 18, 1958.

A7: Orchestra arranged & conducted by Frank DeVol.
Hollywood, July 24, 1957.

B1 & B5: Orchestra arranged & conducted by Billy May.
Hollywood, August 2, 1960 (B1) & January 16, 1961 (B5).

B2: Paul Smith (p)
Hollywood, April 14, 1960.

B3: Ben Webster (ts), Paul Smith (p), Stuff Smith (vln), Barney Kessel (g),
Joe Mondragon (b), Alvin Stoller (d).
Los Angeles, September 4, 1956.

B4: Louis Armstrong (tp, vcl), Oscar Peterson (p), Herb Ellis (g),
Ray Brown (b), Louie Bellson (d).
Los Angeles, August 13, 1957.

B6: Orchestra arranged & conducted by Marty Paich.
Hollywood, October 1, 1962.

B7: Paul Smith (p), Jim Hall (g), Wilfred Middlebrooks (b), Gus Johnson (d).
Live at Deutschlandhallen, Berlin, Germany, February 13, 1960.

SIDE A:

01 BLUE MOON
02 I LOVE PARIS
03 SUMMERTIME
04 EV’RY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE
05 CHEEK TO CHEEK
06 THE LADY IS A TRAMP
07 A-TISKET A-TASKET

SIDE B:

1 GET HAPPY
2 MISTY
3 SOPHISTICATED LADY
4 A FINE ROMANCE
5 LET’S FALL IN LOVE
6 DESAFINADO
7 MACK THE KNIFE