Customer Reviews

Our Love Is Here To Stay: Ella & Louis Sing Gershwin

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for any of us who think we are born to late for good music..take heart!! this cd is a must for anyone who likes music..ella is at her best and louis is the perfect partner...the new, remastered songs sound like they are singing a private concert just for you!! Their rendition of "I got plenty of nothin" is a treat for any Gershwin fan. I can not recommend this cd highly enough. I was turned on to this cd while spending a semester in Koeln Germany. (If anyone is planing a trip..i highly recomend Gonski Music at Neumarkt...the best selection of jazz cd's and they let you listen to cd's before you buy them..even if you don't buy them!! A great way to spend a rainy afternoon!)

I was quite delighted to find this album because I am a big fan of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong's work together (Great interpretation of Porgy and Bess songs, and both Ella and Louis albums). I especially love when the two sing Gershwin songs, and this album is a great representative of all the classic Gershwin songs they do together. It holds a great mix of both orchestral jazz and combo jazz (with Oscar Peterson on piano). I love pretty much every song on this collection, but I think their performance of "Summertime" is scintillating. Other standouts include the cheerful "They All Laughed" and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off", the dreamy "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and "He Loves and She Loves", and the irresistibly catchy "Woman Is a Sometime Thing". All fans of Ella and Louis should check this out; you won't be disappointed. Plus it gives you a taste of other classic albums from the two legendary jazz singers who were made to work with each other.

Ella and Louis are undoubtfully one of the greatest duets of the popular music. Many others tried to emulate them, but we'll have to wait a very long time until another couple of great singers develop the perfect chemistry showed in this records.
This album it's a collection of 16 Gershwin's songs. The best tracks are with Ella and Louis singing together with small groups or big bands, but you can find great moments of each one singing alone (as Ella in "Oh Lady Be Good"). The collection also brings some samples of the opera "Porgy and Bess". You can face this album as a test: if you like it (and it's virtually impossible dislike the music of a great composer sang by the greatest musicians), you are ready to know the other masterpieces recorded by Ella & Louis, like "Ella & Louis", "Ella & Louis Again" and "Porgy and Bess".

I haven't had much exposure to jazz music, and I didn't actually discover this CD until I was sifting through the music collection while I was helping my friends house-sit. I put it in the CD player and many of us were instantly hooked. Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald are magnificent. There couldn't be a better jazz combination. This CD just makes me want more.

I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Ella and Louis were born in the `70s or `80s. Does anybody think that either of them would have stood a snowball's chance in Hell of being recognized for their immense talents? We live in a television age, a video-friendly age, an age that puts physical appearance before talent; that puts followers ahead of leaders. With her comparably plain looks, would anybody glance twice at Ella, or listen enough to realize her gift? Would Louis' ebullience be enough to propel him into the limelight, or would he be forced to succumb to producers and commercial sponsors? It's a sorry comment on today's music marketplace to consider that two of the most talented musicians of this century might not have even got their due if they were born too late, but we must be grateful that they came along when they did. We also must be willing to go back and listen as often as we can, so that we don't lose track of musicianship as grand and wonderful as theirs was.
Ella and Louis Sing Gershwin is a collection that is cobbled together from various other releases, including Porgy and Bess, Louis Armstrong meets Oscar Peterson, and of course, the duo's two sublime, rapturous duet albums and Ella's Gershwin songbook. Each of these albums is a work of art in and of itself, so any compilation of their fruits simply cannot be anything but brilliant. I will admit that I bought this because I believed it to contain unique material, so I was initially disappointed to discover that it recycled material from familiar sources, but when the music is this good, how can I complain? "They Can't Take That Away From Me" is the definitive version of the tune, as is "Love Is Here to Stay," and "S'Wonderful." From the intimacy of a four-piece combo to full-blown orchestral arrangements, the collection runs a wide dynamic range. Nelson Riddle's touch is particularly apparent on "S'Wonderful," with an arrangement that suggests the dynamic majesty of his work on Frank Sinatra's "I've Got You Under My Skin." You don't have to pay homage when you listen, but it is hard not to be awed, especially from today's perspective. We surely do not have a modern-day equivalent of Louis and Ella, so I suggest that you make the best of the situation and enjoy this collection for the wonder that it is. A+ Tom Ryan

"Both singers had previously proved that a three-minute pop tune could be just as eloquently moving as a full-blown opera....As the rousing trills on this disc prove, the pair's got plenty o' plenty." ~ Jim Macnie ~

It's always been a delightful musical journey listening to the First Lady of Song most especially her collaborations with Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and of course, Louis Armstrong. This compilation album, "Our Love Is Here To Stay: Ella & Louis Sing Gershwin," finds two legendary singers not outsmarting one another on duet settings, but complementing each other flawlessly even if they cannot come to terms in "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off." At least they are in perfect harmony singing "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "A Foggy Day," "Summertime" and the title track, "Our Love Is Here To Stay." I absolutely agree with singer Carol Sloane when she said, "the joyous gravel coming out of Pop's mouth was a lovely contrast to Ella's silky and delicate voice."

The material has been compiled from various original LP issues produced by Norman Granz under Verve Records that were recorded from 1957 through 1959 - these are "Porgy and Bess," "Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Song Book," "Ella and Louis," "Ella and Louis Again," "Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson" and "At The Opera House."

All the musicians represented in this impressive collection were the crème de la crème of "Who's Who In Jazz," the likes of pianist Oscar Peterson; alto saxophonist Sonny Stitt; tenor saxophonists Stan Getz, Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips, Lester Young; drummers Louis Bellson, Buddy Rich, Jo Jones; trumpeter Roy Eldridge; trombonist J.J. Johnson; guitarist Herb Ellis; and bassist Ray Brown. On some tracks, Ella and Louis are backed by the Nelson Riddle Orchestra and Russell Garcia Orchestra as well.

This is such a great compilation album to be ignored. Please check it out and join Ella and Louis as they deliver in style the eternally beautiful music of the famous brothers in Tin Pan Alley, George and Ira Gershwin. You'll experience some of the most memorable moments in the history of vocal jazz.

"There's a spontaneity to this music. Ella's voice was so silky and delicate, and here was the joyous gravel coming out of Pop's mouth. It was a lovely contrast. Ella had a grand ability to do exactly as the composer wished when she sang. She pretty much left it to Louis to get cute. God and all the angels put those two together." ~ Carol Sloane ~

When Ira Gershwin first heard these, his comment was, "Now I know how really good our songs were..." When you hear these songs next to any other CD, You can be certain, that "Nobody sings them like Ella & Louie!"

After listening a dozen times in the car, I realized my depression was being lifted! When I got to "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off, and A Foggy Day in London Town", I was singing along! Those are the 2 Highlights for me, alongside the early ones, "I Got Plenty of Nuttin, Summertime, There's A Boat That's Leaving Soon for New York and I Was Doin All Right!" The real winners are those in which Louie plays the tune on his horn first before or after singing...1,4,11,13,15...On 15, he sings, "I was doin all right, but Now I'm doin a little Better!"

Chalk this CD up for a Great One in History for Gershwin!
Retired Chap Fred W Hood

This is a really nice studio recording of all the favorite Gershwin songs plus some that are not heard that often. Check out "They all laughed": I heard it on the KJZZ radio and ran straight to the Borders looking for the CD. "Things are looking up" is also a great song that I haven't heard before.

Ella and Louis back together to sing Gershwin. This cd is teh best of the best.