Ella Fitzgerald, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1940 Jan. 19 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It is no surprise that the quality of Ella's singing is uniformly of the highest quality. She unerringly penetrates to the emotional pith of the songs and exhibits her customary effortless technical mastery throughout. Technical brilliance is not limited to Ella's vocals, however. The engineering on all eight albums is such that I honestly don't believe I have heard any recordings, of any vintage, that sound better on my home system. These recordings are graced by suave arrangements by Nelson Riddle, Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn, Billy May, Paul Weston and Billy Bregman, as well as classy performances by studio pros like drummer Irv Cottler, guitarist Barney Kessel and saxophonist Plas Johnson. Lovers of the canon of music that has become known as the Great American Songbook will be forever grateful for the creative genius that brought these remarkable albums to life.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook (1956) (Buddy Bregman)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook (1956) (Buddy Bregman)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook (1957) (Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook (1958) (Paul Weston)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook (1959) (Nelson Riddle)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook (1961) (Billy May)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (1963) (Nelson Riddle)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook (1964) (Nelson Riddle)
Compact Disc recordings of all of these albums are available,
or currently on order for the Library
Nothing to dispute in your appreciation of Ella, and the focus on her Verve work; only a couple of additions. Her superb musicianship is roundly acknowledged, as a lyric interpreter and as a scat improviser. Too often overlooked in brief reviews is her sense of humor and fun which inflected so much of her work, and so mightily contributes to her vast and enduring popularity.