Ella Fitzgerald

• 2-LP SET – GATEFOLD EDITION

• 180 gram VINYL –AUDIOPHILE PRESSING

• LIMITED QUANTITIES AVAILABLE!!!!!

• INCLUDES 2 BONUS TRACKS

Porgy & Bess marks the third and final album collaboration between Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. It was produced by Norman Granz for his Verve label.

After recording a series of duets in the late 1940s for the Decca label, they were summoned by Granz in 1956 to make a series of sessions that would result in the wonderful LPs Ella and Louis and Ella and Louis Again. Their final album together consists of a selection of tunes from George & Ira Gershwin’s songs for DuBose Heyward’s play Porgy.

Like its predecessors, Porgy & Bess received a five-star review in Down Beat, with Gene Lees stating that, “As the tracks progress, you think she is cutting Armstrong –only to turn around and believe that Armstrong is cutting her. The truth, of course, is that they are outdoing themselves.

This is a Porgy performance you would be illadviced to miss.” On this album, Ella and Louis were backed by a full orchestra conducted and arranged by Russell Garcia

PERSONNEL:

• Ella Fitzgerald (vocals)
• Louis Armstrong (trumpet & vocals)
• Orchestra conducted by Ruseell Garcia
• The Judd Conlon Singers added on D4.

• Recorded in Los Angeles, California
• August 18 (tracks A2, B2, B4 & C1)
• August 19 (tracks C3, D2 & D4)
• August 28 (tracks A3, B1, B3, C2 & D1 [“Here Come de Honey Man” & “Oh, Dey’s So Fresh and Fine”])
• and October 14 (tracks A1, C4, D1 [“Crab Man”] & D3), 1957.

• (*) Bonus tracks (D5-D6):
• Ella Fitzgerald (vcl), Louis Armstrong (tp, vcl), Trummy Young (tb), Edmond Hall (cl), Billy Kyle (p), Dale Jones (b), Barrett Deems (d).
• Recorded live at the Hollywood Bowl, California, August 15, 1956.

TRACKS:

• SIDE A:
• A1 OVERTURE
• A2 SUMMERTIME
• A3 I WANTS TO STAY HERE

• SIDE B:
• B1 MY MAN’S GONE NOW
• B2 I GOT PLENTY O’ NUTTIN’
• B3 BUZZARD SONG
• B4 BESS, YOU IS MY WOMAN NOW

• SIDE C:
• C1 IT AIN’T NECESSARILY SO
• C2 WHAT YOU WANT WID BESS?
• C3 A WOMAN IS A SOMETIME THING
• C4 OH, DOCTOR JESUS

• SIDE D:
• D1 MEDLEY: HERE COME DE HONEY MAN / CRAB MAN / OH, DEY’S SO FRESH AND FINE (STRAWBERRY WOMAN)
• D2 THERE’S A BOAT DAT’S LEAVIN’ SOON FOR NEW YORK
• D3 BESS, OH WHERE’S MY BESS?
• D4 OH, LAWD, I’M ON MY WAY
• D5 YOU WON’T BE SATISFIED (*)
• D6 UNDECIDED (*)