Ella and Louis [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 7, 2000)
• Original Release Date: August 16, 1956
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B00004RD5E
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,133 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #38 in	Music > Jazz > Swing Jazz
  #42 in	Music > Jazz > Traditional Jazz & Ragtime
  #83 in	Music > Pop > Oldies > Traditional Pop

• This is item 1 in The Verve Music Group Desert Island Discs Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
What we have here is the mating of honey and molasses. Or is it the sound of melted butter over gravel? Never mind--sweeter, more joyous music has never been recorded (although the follow-up, Ella and Louis Again, may be even better). You can't listen to these two without smiling. It's such an inevitable pairing that you wonder what titanic forces of nature could have kept Ella and Satchmo apart until they made this record together in 1957, accompanied by the Oscar Peterson trio and Buddy Rich on drums. The songs are standards--extraordinary standards, of course, like "Moonlight in Vermont" and "A Foggy Day"--but nirvana is reached on "Cheek to Cheek." Heaven. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They don't make 'em like they used to..., April 25, 2000

By	"mrovich" (Cambridge United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

Nostalgia is an annoying emotion, and irritating to hear about, because there are always worthy artists working, and there will always be the potential for sublime music. But an album likes this really makes you yearn for older days - I don't particularly like the idea of missing out everything that followed this album, in the 60's etc., but where can you find a voice like Ella's today, and a musical supremo like Louis?

I believe that Ella Fitzgerald has the greatest voice in jazz...I hesitate to say in ANY music, because it is difficult to compare classically trained singers with jazz ones, but hers in any case is so warm and beautiful as to touch your soul. In this album, it is allowed to express itself fully, and since no voice can be perfect, is even enhanced by the harmonies it engages in with Louis'.

His trumpet playing is excellent, though singing is given the main emphasis, where his extraordinary sense of rhythm, and his sheer enjoyment of the music make him more than a match for Ella. The instrumental section performs a little backing masterpiece of its own, with the supreme Oscar Peterson trio plus drummer doing that great musical trick of making themselves pretty much unnoticeable UNLESS you take them out.

Every song here is a delight, bringing plenty of smiles and sighs. The album works because of the constant craftsmanship, and I am sure the remastering people deserve some credit, because the sound quality is very high.

It would be very difficult not to enjoy this album...and a special note to people in the northern hemisphere - this is a great summer album. Get buying!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A desert island disc for sure!, June 28, 2004

By	I. Sondel "I. Sondel - lover of the arts" (Tallahassee, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Two of the greatest popular musical performers of the 20th century, "Ella and Louis" together make beautiful music. "Stars Fell on Alabama," "Cheek to Cheek," "A Foggy Day," "Can't We Be Friends?," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "Under a Blanket of Blue" - this is an unbeatable collection of pop standards. Truly a desert island disc.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Convergence without Compromise, August 1, 2003

By	Albert Kim (Montréal, Québec, Canada) - See all my reviews

You could not have more of a contrast between two voices between Ella and Louis. Ella's: like a glass of warm milk, silky and smooth. Louis': like a bear hug, rough and tumble. Who would think this combination would work? Both artists had such huge successes singing on their own and have such distinct styles, that you would think that their voices would conflict with each other in an egomaniacal disaster.
And yet there is a convergence without compromise. Their voices play off of each other, complementing each other's features, and yet nothing is lost in each's distinctness. They both bring everything they have to the table, and magically somehow, the table is big enough to fit everything.

And then there is Louis' trumpet, with such tone that you'd think there was a third voice on this album. Such raw emotion, it almost speaks to the listener.

This might sound like the most pretentious statement of the week, I must admit. Yet listen to the interplay of voices in "Cheek to Cheek", the trumpet solo in "Moonlight in Vermont", the tranquility of "The Nearness of You", the subtle swing of "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and you will see that what I said doesn't even come close to encapsulating what this record is.

I don't feel this way about too many albums, jazz or not. I don't go out and make statements like this frequently; I am almost ashamed at how culture-snobbish it sounds. But it's sincere. Listen to this album, and you'll see what I mean.