Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
They're The Top, August 28, 2003
This is probably my favorite jazz/pop vocal album of all time. My best friend introduced me to it years ago, and I am overjoyed to see it properly reissued, complete, at long last. There's something magical in the way that Ella's elegance and Armstrong's robust humor combine to produce music of such overwhelming warmth and sophistication. When you hear Armstrong sing the deliciously quaint and suggestive verse to "Let's Do It," all about the little bluebell in the dell, and the little blue bird ("boid" in New Orleanian), and the little blue clerk, marrying Cole Porter's arch '30s wit to his own much deeper knowledge of human need, you will be won over forever. Likewise Fitzgerald's treatment of even the most mundane lyric -- as in "Don't Be That Way" -- makes it seem like pure gold, AND the most natural advice in the world.Which is not to say that the material is inferior! These are well-chosen standards, lovely tunes that everyone ought to be humming. It's just that these two great singing musicians transform them into something really special. Get this! Get two copies, and give one to *your* best friend. You'll both be happy every time you listen.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Music for everyone!, March 20, 2003
No matter what your musical taste, it's hard to imagine that you won't love this combination. Ella & Louis are, of course, the standards by which all other jazz vocalists learn and are judged; the songs are the brightest gems from the jewel box that is the great American standard songbook; and oh, by the way, the accompanists are the redoubtable Oscar Peterson trio. Just the best in the biz, that's all. If you're a jazz aficionado, you'll find a wealth to love and appreciate; if you're a casual listener, count on it!...This is music that'll just make you happy. Get it and enjoy it for the rest of your life.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
sweet and lowdown , January 6, 2008
The only time Louis and Ella really shake it loose here, on "Stompin at the Savoy" -- which everybody feels forever compelled to remind you was a lucky run of the tape during some fooling around that Verve decided was so good they just had to include it on the release -- there's a moment when Armstrong riffs something like "one more time, Ella, Norman Granz must be looking at Lionel Hampton." I could visualize, when he sings this, Armstrong looking up into the recording booth and a delirious Granz gesturing wildly with his hands for everybody to play on -- Louie, baby, this is the magic! Whatever, even the liner notes writer on this "Dig" release acknowledges this set isn't exactly wheelhouse stuff for Louis and Ella. It's more white tablecloth Louis and Ella for the cocktails set. No burly blues, jazz and Dixieland here. Kind of jarring, hearing Louis sing the Cole Porter "Let's Do It," but, don't get me wrong for a moment, he's definitely making it happen. It's not hard to imagine Ella laying into "Ill Wind" or scatting her head off on "Stompin at the Savoy," but some of the other stuff walks a finer line, and this set -- as Disc 2 almost - almost - begins to -- could have had an uneasy, forced feeling. These, however, are the two oldest and best pros in the business. Ella and Louis never sound like they're working to find the center of the song; they've got the whole program under control. With the "tasteful", yet completely commanding swing of the Oscar Peterson Trio to carry them along, they find an easy sweet spot and appear to relax. But relax doesn't give them due credit for the complete mastery these two have of their art. They are both among the few very greatest and most distinctive singers in the long history of American popular song. I would suspect that the reason they work so well together is the joy and respect they take in each other's art and company. Both the gorgeous, slow balladry and lightly swinging fun are full of pleasures, and both voices are in first-rate form. There's not much trumpet here, but Louis' mouth is a gravel-filled horn.
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