Porgy & Bess

Ella Fitzgerald (Artist), Louis Armstrong (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• SPARS Code: AAD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B0000046Z5
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #78,554 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Getting the two most personable voices in jazz to sing an hour's worth of George Gershwin's opera Porgy & Bess (Ella doing all the female parts, Satchmo all the male) was a good idea, but not quite as great as it sounded. Armstrong savors the down-and-dirty Charlestonisms that inspired the cadences of the music and lyrics, and they fit his happy rasp like an old shoe; Fitzgerald, conversely, sounds almost prissy every time she has to sing the word "ain't," though her melodic genius gets Gershwin's bold, supple tunes over. The arrangements are full-throttle Broadway, with a few leaps into Dixieland (including some fine Armstrong trumpet solos), but the disc works best when the vocalists break character and let their jazz side out. --Douglas Wolk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Staggering Collaboration, August 12, 2000

By	C. Greco - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There's a famous story that recalls legendary producer Norman Granz, at the end of every recording day of this "Porgy and Bess," effort, taking the dailies over for Ira Gershwin to listen to. Ira, who was then older and retired (George had already been gone almost a quarter century), loved what he heard so much that he readily stamped his seal of approval on the jazz version of the Gershwin masterpiece. Gershwin became visibly moved at Satchmo's soul-deep singing on more than one occasion, Grantz would later write.

Ira's enthusiasm is not suprising. This version of "Porgy and Bess" constitutes the final meeting of arguably the greatest vocal collaboration in the history of jazz. You'd think it strange that "Pops" Armstrong, with his gravelly growl, and Ella Fitzgerald, with her pronounced, learned voice, would constitute a good singing partnership. This is better than good; the album literally gives you chills up and down your spine from start to finish. The full, lush orchestra, which plays straight AND jazz orchestrations throughout, only improves with Satchmo's syncopated, totally flawless horn playing. There are so many details to cherish: Pops' throaty growl. Ella's vocal range and genius for rythmic verse. Both of their voices harmonizing together. The sudden orchestrative leaps from opera to jazz, like so many mood swings. The work, taken as a whole, is both moving and uplifting at the same time.

Personal favorites, among a sea of gems, include:

"Bess, You is my Woman Now" (The vocal harmonization leaves the listener breathless);

"It Ain't Necessarily So" and "I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'" (fantastic jazz orchestration and Satchmo horn)

"Lawd, I'm on My Way" (the final track moved Ira Gershwin to tears)

"Summertime" (Satchmo's barely audible growl as he begins his 'Summertime' verse makes the listener want to "climb the walls," as another reviewer so accurately noted.)

This is the stuff of legend, folks. Do yourself a huge favor and purchase a copy. Jazz -- and Gershwin -- don't get any better than this.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ridculously great, May 1, 2005

By	Shawn Carter (Pheonix, AZ) - See all my reviews

I had high expectations of this set after hearing 3 tracks from "Porgy and Bess" from a compilation of Ella and Louis. I heard "Summertime", and "A Woman Is a Sometime Thing" and was shocked at the quality and emotion of the voice, and of course, Armstrong's trumpet. When I heard the rest of this, my mouth dropped open a few times (and I have a few hundred jazz cd's). A good example is "It Ain't Necessarily So", which is powerful, dark, and brilliant all at the same time. In a sense this is Ella and Louis's tribute to Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess". Most tribute albums (in all types of music) make you feel good, like they really were inspired by the person the are giving a tribute to. Ella and Louis sound in awe of The Gershwin Brothers/Dubose opera.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For everyone with ears whether you can hear or not!, January 28, 2005

By	Tony Thomas (SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Here are the two greatest singers in the entire history of Jazz in their greatest accomplishment together. Ella and Louis shine, not just in the vocal heroics of Ella or in the rhythmic inflections of Louis, or in the trumpet commentary Armstrong makes on both their vocals, but in the sincerity and feeling that they both sing and act the lyrics to each other. There is simply nothing better, particularly if you take the time to listen hard, I mean just sit there and listen to the songs and the voices and the music and hear the words without anything else going on but the feeling and enjoyment and knowledge of the darkness, brightness, ugliness and beauty of life that this brings you.

The magic of this is that like all his collaboration records, Norman Grantz of Verve, produced this on the quick and cheap. The sessions were done when Louis and Ella happened to be in New York off the road between gigs without any or much rehearsal, without much time to work out the arrangements, without performances of the material anywhere. Sometimes, their first take is their first try. What geniuses they are to accomplish this without the preparation that a masterpiece requires.

Analyzing a sampler of all the joint Louis and Ella recordings, I said that this collection was so good that anyone with ears should have it whether or not you can hear, because the deaf will want this to be the first thing they hear when they find a cure. I stand by that.