Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook
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CD Details
Artist: Ella FitzgeraldEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1999-03-23
Music Label: Polygram Records
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Rockin' In Rhythm
- Drop Me Off In Harlem
- Day Dream
- Caravan
- Take The 'A' Train
- I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues
- Clementine
- I Didn't Know About You
- I'm Beginning To See The Light
- Lost In Meditation
- Perdido
- Cotton Tail
- Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
- Just A-Sittin' & A-Rockin'
- Solitude
- Rocks In My Bed
- Satin Doll
- Sophisticated Lady
- Just Squeeze Me (But Don't Tease Me)
- It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
- Azure
- I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
- In A Sentimental Mood
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore
- Prelude To A Kiss
- Mood Indigo
- In A Mellow Tone
- Love You Madly
- Lush Life
- Squatty Roo
- I'm Just A Lucky So-And-So
- All Too Soon
- Everything But You
- I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
- Bli-Blip
- Chelsea Bridge
- Portrait Of Ella Fitzgerald
- The E And D Blues (E For Ella, D For Duke)
- Chelsea Bridge (Rehearsal)
- Chelsea Bridge (Rehearsal)
- Chelsea Bridge (Rehearsal)
- Chelsea Bridge (Rehearsal)
- Chelsea Bridge (Rehearsal)
- Chelsea Bridge (Rehearsal)
- Chelsea Bridge (Rehearsal)
- Chelsea Bridge (Rehearsal)
- All Heart (Alternative Take)
- All Heart (Alternative Take)
- All Heart (Alternative Take)
- All Heart (Alternative Take)
- Portrait Of Ella Fitzgerald (Alternative Takes)
Music reviews of Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook
Music Review: Absolutely five star music, but a rip-off cd package
Rating: 3 Stars
I love Ella's Songbooks, especially the Rodgers/Hart, Cole Porter, Berlin, and above all this Ellington meeting.
The best meets the best right here, not only the whole band and Ella but also the trio sides on disc 2; Webster and Fitz fit perfectly, and to my ears are the only near-equal to the Billie/Prez duo in vocal/saxdom. OP is insanely great as always, and displays ears of gold in his accompaniment. And of course when the entire, incomparable Ellington ensemble is in full swing, with perhaps the finest jazz voice of them all floating above, that's about as close to jazz heaven as one can ask for.
But.
I think this cd package is a real ripoff. My vinyl of these sets sounds warmer than these remasters, and cost much less than half as much many years ago. The extra cd of outtakes is indeed interesting but nothing you'd want to hear over and over, unlike the first two discs. All three for 51 is outrageous in my estimation, not because the music ain't superb, but because the record company is keeping most of that money!
Ellington's and Ella's estates are getting miniscule royalty rates on these songbook sets, yet the prices are far above the average jazz cd sets. It's not as if these were specialty items in small press-runs; Verve has one of the most reliably-moving catalogs of all jazz cds, especially the Ella stuff. To compare, the three-cd Bill Evans Village Vanguard set is 20, as are many other fine collections of the best jazz. 10 a disc seems fair; 17 does not, especially when one of the discs is outtakes.
I truly love this music, and have since I first heard it in the 70s as a kid. But I completely abhor the unmitigated greed of Verve's parent company Universal Music Group, who are a front for Vivendi, the mega-conglomerate from France who prove again and again how miserably greedy they are (as when they fired 5/6 of UMG's staff a few years back and dumped many of their best acts...as if Vivendi needs to cut costs!).
When Norman Granz started Verve he began a tradition of musician-friendly label-artist relations that became the industry standard. Vivendi is doing the exact opposite, cutting costs and artist development to the bone while greedily milking the catalogs of true music/musician lovers like Granz. Please note that they wouldn't let this set be discounted here. That's pure greed. I'm just glad I already have the vinyl of most of these songbooks so I don't need to pay these punks one thin dime. This is the sort of media monopoly that whines about "piracy" while being the biggest pirates of all.
I'm so glad I can hear all these cds by simply going to my library. As much as I love Ella's music, no way will I support a company like Vivendi, who go out of their way to both overcharge the consumer and underpay the musicians' heirs at every turn.
To those looking at buying this, I can only say that it's a good thing used cds tend to be in good shape.
Description of Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook
The complete Ella Fitzgerald vocal sides from the celebrated 2-double LP set presenting her singing the music of Duke Ellington. The first CD of our edition contains the complete small group sides including Ben Webster, while the second has all of the big band numbers. Includes 16-page bookletWhile legends such as Billie Holiday and Count Basie made their greatest impact with visceral, blues-soaked statements, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington succeeded by lending their work unmatched grace and precision. This is a roundabout way of saying that no one is better suited to interpret the Duke than Ella, and the evidence is contained within these three CDs. Discs 1 and 3, recorded in June 1957, feature the support of the full Ellington band and are a complete joy, from Fitzgerald's terrific scat vocal on "Rockin' in Rhythm" through the extended four-part suite "Portrait of Ella Fitzgerlad," which adds Ellington's spoken observations and Billy Strayhorn's piano accents. However, the real highlight is the middle disc, recorded in the fall of that year, which finds Ella fronting a small band boasting Ellington's former tenor star Ben Webster. Most of this disc includes wonderful violin from Stuff Smith and supple guitar from Barney Kessel; the remaining cuts feature Oscar Peterson's trio. Of particular note are the three warming Ella-Kessel duets and the consistently charming work of Webster. By combining big-band and small-band sides, this collection emphasizes the flexibility of both Ellington's songs and Fitzgerald's interpretive powers. --Marc Greilsamer
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