Swingsation

Chick Webb, Ella Fitzgerald

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 16, 1998)
• Original Release Date: June 16, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Verve
• ASIN: B000007Q66
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #170,494 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Part of the Swingsation series designed to introduce fans of recent swing to the originals (other titles include Jimmie Lunceford and Louis Jordan), this is an infectious collection that features one of the most swinging of 1930s bands, drummer Chick Webb and his Orchestra. While Ella Fitzgerald gets top billing, it's really Webb's show. Five of the 18 tracks are instrumentals, and the earliest three are from 1934, actually predating Fitzgerald's joining the band. Webb is literally "Mr. Rhythm" and his drumming is always lively, whether he's driving the band along or exploding on a solo or brief break, adding a panoply of percussive effects with cowbells and wood blocks. The band responds with punching brass--lead trumpeter Mario Bauza can fill a room with sound--and saxophone riffs, and there are some terrific soloists in the group, like trumpeter Taft Jordan and saxophonists Louis Jordan and Hilton Jefferson. The choice of songs emphasizes Fitzgerald's talent for novelty and rhythm tunes, with period treats like "When I Get High" and "Wacky Dust," as well as better-known tunes like her first big hit, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket." It's entertaining, thoroughly danceable music, a terrific introduction to an exciting band and the early years of Fitzgerald's great career. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very dancable Ella, October 31, 1999

By A Customer

If you're into swing dance this is a CD you just have to have. The sound is clear and the beat is perfect. Cut number 10, "I Want to be Happy" is perfect for a partener Charleston. If you never heard Chick Webb, this should be your first CD.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I dare you to listen to it just once, February 18, 2002

By	bencharif (Staten Island, NY United States) - See all my reviews

Over the years I'd heard "A Tisket, A Tasket," one of a number of Ella Fitzgerald's signature songs, several times, but I'd dismissed it as a novelty of its period, interesting chiefly because it gives us a taste of the very young Ella.

Boy, was I wrong.

Judging from her performances on this CD, it's obvious that even the very young Ella was in remarkable control of her gift. From the beginning, she seems to have understood herself as a musician whose instrument was her voice.

Still, this is as much the Chick Webb Band's show as Ella's, and after listening to this installment in the Swingsation series again and again, I can't get those arrangements out of my head. They're intricate and clever and, yes, they really swing. And so do the individual band members.

With the exception of "A Tisket, A Tasket" and "It Ain't Whatcha Do, It's the Way Thatcha Do It," the songs on this CD aren't classics. But unlike Peggy Lee, whose material, in my opinion, was only rarely her equal, Ella Fitzgerald managed to distinguish even second-rate songs--in this case, with a big boost of energy, wit and imagination from the Chick Webb Band.

This CD is much more than some cute relic; it's classic American music of the mid-20th century. Be be warned: Listening to this music is addictive. I dare you to listen to it just once.

5.0 out of 5 stars Tremendous, September 16, 2002

By	Alan Breck (Jersey City, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This CD collects Chick Webb recordings from the 1930s, many of them featuring the band's popular vocalist, Ella Fitzgerald. Webb had one of the premier swing bands of the 1930s, besting even Benny Goodman in the eyes of many swing enthusiasts. Fitzgerald, of course, went on to other things and later became a headliner in her own right. The brief association of Webb and Fitzgerald produced many memorable recordings, and the ability of the young, inexperienced singer to keep up with the accomplished instrumentalists is astonishing. Webb knew how lucky he was, and he featured Fitzgerald in vocals that allowed her more than the single chorus allotted to most band singers.

This disc includes a nice selection of Webb material, including five instrumentals and the best of the Fitzgerald recordings. Talent of this caliber can turn a stupid lyric like "A Tisket- A Tasket" into a swing classic, while rendering definitive versions of more traditional songs such as "I Want to Be Happy."

A fabulous collection that celebrates one of the great partnerships in swing history!