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In order to recycle its holdings yet again, Verve hit upon a fascinating gimmick: get celebrity guest "DJs" to select the tracks and provide the liner notes. So here, Joe Williams is the man on the spot, and he comes up with 16 of his favorite Ella tunes, a good connoisseur's mix of orchestrated ballads, pure jazz workouts, sessions with big bands, duets, and intimate pairings with pianists. Most of them are on their umpteenth trip onto CD -- obvious basic library stuff like the live "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," "Mr. Paganini," "How High the Moon," "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" with Satchmo, and the famous Berlin "Mack the Knife" -- but a few are comparatively unusual, like "Robbins' Nest" with a trio at Carnegie Hall from 1949. There is also an apparent goof; the guys in the mastering lab used a Williams solo version of "Too Close for Comfort" instead of a promised duet with Ella. Williams' "notes" -- actually a transcribed interview -- emphasize the sheer fun that Ella had onstage, her innate sense of rhythm and storytelling ability, and even includes a bit of humor (when citing "Lush Life" as a textbook recording of the tune, he says he's heard singers say "distant gay places" instead of "distingue places"). Ultimately -- pardon the pun -- it's about as good as one can expect a mere single-disc sampling of Verve's vast Ella holdings to be.
© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo
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Ella Fitzgerald, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Al Feldman, ComposerLyricist - Norman Granz, Producer
℗ 1961 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Oscar Peterson Trio, FeaturedArtist - George Gershwin, ComposerLyricist - Ira Gershwin, ComposerLyricist - Ella Fitzgerald, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - RAY BROWN, Upright Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Herb Ellis, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Oscar Peterson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Val Valentin, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Norman Granz, Producer - Jo Jones, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1957 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Ella Fitzgerald, MainArtist - RAY BROWN, Upright Bass, AssociatedPerformer - GEORGE DAVID WEISS, ComposerLyricist - George Shearing, ComposerLyricist - Herb Ellis, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Val Valentin, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - J.C. Heard, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Norman Granz, Producer - Raymond Tunia, Piano, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1993 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Ella Fitzgerald, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Barney Kessel, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Matt Dennis, ComposerLyricist - Paul Smith, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Val Valentin, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Earl K. Brent, ComposerLyricist - Norman Granz, Producer
℗ 1957 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Duke Ellington, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Ella Fitzgerald, MainArtist - Gerald Wilson, ComposerLyricist - Billy Strayhorn, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1965 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Johnny Mercer, ComposerLyricist - Ella Fitzgerald, MainArtist - SONNY BURKE, ComposerLyricist - NELSON RIDDLE, Conductor, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Lionel Hampton, ComposerLyricist - Paul Smith, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Willie Smith, Alto Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Val Valentin, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Norman Granz, Producer - Buddy DeFranco, Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - Frank Flynn, Vibraphone, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1965 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Kurt Weill, ComposerLyricist - Ella Fitzgerald, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - MARC BLITZSTEIN, ComposerLyricist - Jim Hall, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Bertolt Brecht, ComposerLyricist - Paul Smith, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Gus Johnson, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Val Valentin, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - The Paul Smith Quartet, Ensemble, FeaturedArtist - Norman Granz, Producer - Wilfred Middlebrooks, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1960 UMG Recordings, Inc.
George Gershwin, ComposerLyricist - Ira Gershwin, ComposerLyricist - Ella Fitzgerald, MainArtist - Dorothy Heyward, ComposerLyricist - Dubose Heyward, ComposerLyricist - Louis Armstrong, MainArtist - Russell Garcia, Conductor - Norman Granz, Producer
℗ 1958 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Ella Fitzgerald, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Jim Hall, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Nancy Hamilton, ComposerLyricist - Paul Smith, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Morgan Lewis, ComposerLyricist - Gus Johnson, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Val Valentin, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - The Paul Smith Quartet, FeaturedArtist - Norman Granz, Producer - Wilfred Middlebrooks, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1960 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Duke Ellington, Composer - Ella Fitzgerald, MainArtist - Carl Sigman, ComposerLyricist - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, Orchestra, Artist - Norman Granz, Producer
℗ 1957 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Ella Fitzgerald, MainArtist - Irving Berlin, ComposerLyricist - Paul Weston, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Paul Weston & His Orchestra, Orchestra - Val Valentin, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Norman Granz, Producer
℗ 1958 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Sam Coslow, ComposerLyricist - Ella Fitzgerald, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Lou Levy, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Herb Ellis, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Gus Johnson, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Norman Granz, Producer - Seth Foster, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Wilfred Middlebrooks, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1961 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Ella Fitzgerald, MainArtist - Mack Gordon, Author - Stan Getz, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Harry Revel, Composer - Val Valentin, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Frank DeVol, Conductor, Arranger, Work Arranger - Norman Granz, Producer
℗ 1957 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Ella Fitzgerald, MainArtist - Bob Russell, ComposerLyricist - Buddy Rich, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - RAY BROWN, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Hank Jones, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Sir Charles Thompson, ComposerLyricist - ILLINOIS JACQUET, ComposerLyricist - Charles Thompson, ComposerLyricist - Norman Granz, Producer
℗ 1949 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Ella Fitzgerald, MainArtist - Billy Strayhorn, ComposerLyricist - Oscar Peterson, FeaturedArtist - Val Valentin, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Norman Granz, Producer
℗ 1957 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Ella Fitzgerald, MainArtist - GEORGE DAVID WEISS, ComposerLyricist - Jerry Bock, ComposerLyricist - Larry Holofcenter, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1956 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Album review
In order to recycle its holdings yet again, Verve hit upon a fascinating gimmick: get celebrity guest "DJs" to select the tracks and provide the liner notes. So here, Joe Williams is the man on the spot, and he comes up with 16 of his favorite Ella tunes, a good connoisseur's mix of orchestrated ballads, pure jazz workouts, sessions with big bands, duets, and intimate pairings with pianists. Most of them are on their umpteenth trip onto CD -- obvious basic library stuff like the live "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," "Mr. Paganini," "How High the Moon," "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" with Satchmo, and the famous Berlin "Mack the Knife" -- but a few are comparatively unusual, like "Robbins' Nest" with a trio at Carnegie Hall from 1949. There is also an apparent goof; the guys in the mastering lab used a Williams solo version of "Too Close for Comfort" instead of a promised duet with Ella. Williams' "notes" -- actually a transcribed interview -- emphasize the sheer fun that Ella had onstage, her innate sense of rhythm and storytelling ability, and even includes a bit of humor (when citing "Lush Life" as a textbook recording of the tune, he says he's heard singers say "distant gay places" instead of "distingue places"). Ultimately -- pardon the pun -- it's about as good as one can expect a mere single-disc sampling of Verve's vast Ella holdings to be.
© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 16 track(s)
- Total length: 01:03:32
- Main artists: Ella Fitzgerald
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Verve Reissues
- Genre: Jazz Vocal Jazz
© 1997 UMG Recordings, Inc. This Compilation ℗ 1997 UMG Recordings, Inc.
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