Customer Reviews

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Ella Fitzgerald

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Having bought many of the Ella Fitzgerald "songbooks" issued on CD, I was skeptical at first if I really needed yet another Ella CD. My skepticism quickly disappeared after listening to this CD. There is a great sampling of all of Ella's music and especially her unique scat music style which is well represented here. Early recordings combined with live recordings demonstrate her technical skill and artistry as a vocal musician. Some of the earliest recorded music reissued here has some background hiss but only on one or two tracks at the most. Do not let the fact that this is part of the Ken Burns Jazz Series discourage you from getting this CD. After purchasing this CD, I decided one can never have too many Ella CDs.

18 wonderful songs spanning the years from 1936 to 1963. This album is a wonderful introduction to a wonderful jazz singer. Some of her best work is here, and is guaranteed to make you want to get more Ella. Her scatting and improvisations are second to none. Her Louis Armstrong impression on "Mack the knife" and her Slam Stewart impression on "How high the Moon" are a hoot. What a talented lady. There will never be another Ella. The booklet includes a 2 page essay and a couple of photos. I highly recommend this album, it's a must-have.

Ms. Fitzgerald is the personification of effervescence. She bubbles and sparkles endlessly and this cd is a great introduction. It spans much of her classic material, starting at the beginning. She is so greatly talented and full of warmth. I just love her. I wish I could have met her. Buy this. (wink!)

I can just imagine Ken Burns sitting down, trying to decide what songs from the vast repertoire of the First Lady of Jazz to include in an 18-track CD. Almost nigh on impossible, although the opening track was certainly a no-brainer. Ella is one among very few artists who could have taken an 1800's nursery rhyme and turn it into a # 1 hit, which she did in 1938 with Chick Webb's orchestra on A-Tisket, A-Tasket.

After that, however, it must have been agony for Burns. What to include - what not to include? Track 2 was also a Chick Webb recording from 1938 with Ella on vocals, and for track 3 he includes one after she took over Webb's band following his untimely death in 1939 and changed the billing to Ella Fitzgerald And Her Famous Orchestra.

I just wish he hadn't skimmed over the 1940s, providing only 1945's Flying Home, done with Vic Schoen's orchestra, long-time collaborator with The Andrews Sisters. Although she's at her scat-singing best on the old 1939 Benny Goodman hit, that part of her career also included Five O'Clock Whistle and When My Sugar Walks Down The Street - both with Her Famous Orchestra, several duets with The Ink Spots [Cow-Cow Boogie, Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall, I'm Beginning To See The Light], and another gem with The Delta Rhythm Boys, It's Only A Paper Room.

But it's hard - no impossible - to be critical of what he does include. ANYTHING this gallant lady recorded was and is priceless entertainment. Here the sound reproduction is fantastic, as are the liner notes by Phil Bailey, the contents discography, and the photographs of Ella with Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington.

For the record the accompanying artists on the other tracks sound like a Who's Who of Jazz: Ellis Larkins, Bill Doggett, Sy Oliver, Buddy Bregman, Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Louis Bellson, Ben Webster, Stuff Smith, Paul Smith, Barney Kessel, Alvin Stoller, Roy Eldridge, J.J. Johnson, Sonny Stitt, Stan Getz, Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips, Lester Young, Connie Kay, Paul Weston - to name just a few. All the names are shown for each track.

You can't have an Ella Fitzgerald collection without this one.

A wonderful trip through Ella's early music. Love the scat and then you get more...highly recommend

Ms. Fitzgerald is the personification of effervescence. She bubbles and sparkles endlessly and this cd is a great introduction. It spans much of her classic material, starting at the beginning. She is so greatly talented and full of warmth. I just love her. I wish I could have met her. Buy this. (wink!)