Customer Reviews

Best of Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song

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This is one of the finest collections one can buy as a "greatest hits" in recorded music. The cd kicks off with a hard swinging big band propelled "Too Young for the Blues", moves to a wonderful duet with Louis Armstrong, and takes you through a beautiful tour of settings and styles. Duets with Oscar Peterson and Armstrong, big band numbers with Duke Ellington and Count Basie, soulful slow numbers like, "Angel Eyes", "Lush Life", "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", and lush blues like "Just A-sittin' and A-rockin'" with the silky smooth tenor of Ben Webster will have you hitting the repeat button and leaving it. I challenge anyone to listen to Ella's flawless scat on "Blues Skies" to keep their toes from reflexivly tapping. Looking for an intro to one of American music's treasures? Look no further, here it is!

I bought this cd in the discount rack (sorry, Amazon). My first Fitzgerald cds were the Cole Porter songbooks. I was very surprised to discover I like this cd even better. In this cd, Ella demonstrates her strongest qualities: the beautiful voice and treatments designed to get the most out of the song (as opposed to treatments designed to show off the vocalist the most). The variety of arrangements and musicians give this cd its specialness, however. The variety of sounds makes every song a treat. The Armstrong duets are especially great. I might buy the Fitzgerald/Armstrong cd next.

The market is flooded with "Best of Ella" compilations, but this one really lives up to its title. The performances *and* the production are consistently excellent -- something you can't always count on when a label decides to pick through old master tapes for an artist retrospective. On this album, Ella performs with the Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Nelson Riddle orchestras, with small groups led by Ben Webster and Louis Armstong, and in a simple duet with Oscar Peterson on piano. The level of talent on this CD is astounding. If you own no Ella Fitzgerald recordings, you must stop whatever else you are doing immediately and buy this CD. Everyone needs something of such rare, pure beauty in their life.

Since buying this I have also acquired the Rodgers and Hart Songbook, the Something to Live For set, and Ella and Louis, and I like them but this is still the Ella CD I listen to the most. This is the CD by which I was introduced to her. What a treasure she was and how lucky I was to find her.

To sum it up in a word............SPLENDID!