Customer Reviews

Get Happy

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this cd holds a special place in my heart,it was my 50th ella fitzgerald cd and she did not dissapoint.all of the performances are so good that i can't choose a favorite.her singing is so wonderful that i am still stunned and thrilled even after 50 plus cds.the collection of songs consist of a fine selection of jazz and pop standards done with a variety of arrangers and accompanists.if you want to hear the best of the best at the peak of incredible powers, get this one.

This CD is a wonderful collection of upbeat songs sung by one of the best singers ever, Ella Fitzgerald. She does not disappoint us with this set of songs. We hear "You Make Me Feel So Young," "Blue Skies," "Beat Me, Daddy, Eight To The Bar," "Gypsy In My Soul," "Goody-Goody," A-Tisket, a-tasket" as well as several more songs. The CD version of this album includes a previously unissued alternate take of "Swingin' Shepherd Blues," a great added plus. Listeners will be interested to know that "A-Tisket, a-tasket" is sung to a Latin beat; much earlier on Fitzgerald sang this song a more traditional way in the 1941 Abbott and Costello movie Ride 'Em Cowboy.

Although this may or may not be her best album ever by the critics' standards, I highly recommend this CD. The sound quality is excellent and the liner notes reproduce the original record album back cover faithfully. It certainly made me feel happy to listen to it!

this cd holds a special place in my heart,it was my 50th ella fitzgerald cd and she did not dissapoint.all of the performances are so good that i can't choose a favorite.her singing is so wonderful that i am still stunned and thrilled even after 50 plus cds.the collection of songs consist of a fine selection of jazz and pop standards done with a variety of arrangers and accompanists.if you want to hear the best of the best at the peak of incredible powers, get this one.

This is a nice collection of good standards culled from a number of separate sessions and collated into this one compilation album.

Many of the songs are taken from Fitzgerald's famous songbook sessions and feature arrangements from the likes of Paul Weston ("Irving Berlin") and Nelson Riddle ("George and Ira Gershwin"). The material is consistently good, arrangements well-crafted and Ella's singing - as always - is superb. These tracks will make a welcome addition to any music lovers collection.

The only weakness to this CD is that it doesn't work so well as an album in an aethestic sense, they are simply a miscellany of items that don't fit anywhere else. The other downside is that some of the tracks (the wonderful Nelson Riddle arranged pieces) have appeared previosuly elsewhere, so on a collection with only a few tracks this makes a sizeable proportion of the whole collection.

This is a nice CD worth buying. It is just not essential.

This is Ella just the way I love to hear her: great old tunes, swinging big band arrangements, and plenty of room for her to do some scat singing (especially on "Cool Breeze" and "Blue Skies"). Recorded in several sessions over more than two years, this 1959 release features big bands filled with top players and led by Nelson Riddle, Frank DeVol, Marty Paich, Russell Garcia, and Paul Weston.
Fans of Ella's Songbook series of albums should definitely add this to their collection. It's also a good choice for those who are just discovering her recordings. It beautifully demonstrates the way she uses her voice like a jazz instrument, while still showing respect for the melody and the lyrics. I generally prefer to listen to instrumental jazz, but Ella is the singer most capable of diverting my attention to vocals.
The CD package reproduces the original cover art and includes a booklet with plenty of information about the sessions and players. Thankfully, it also reprints the original liner notes in a font that's large enough to read. The only thing one could wish is for the album to be longer. (Even with two bonus tracks, it's about 38 minutes.) Or you could just play it repeatedly, which you'll probably do anyway.

makes you happy! what else can "ella" do for you but make you happy?!