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‘ELLA’ Introducing Ella Fitzgerald 3 Volume Set - Naxos Jazz Legends 8.103009

 

 

Volume 1 "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" – 18 Original Recordings 1936-1941

Volume 2 "It’s The Way That You Do It" – 20 Original Recordings 1936-1939

Volume 3 "Oh! Lady Be Good" – 19 Original recordings 1945-1952

Volume 1

1	A-Tisket, A-Tasket	10	Baby Won’t You Please Come Home
2	You Showed Me The Way	11	Cryin’ Mood
3	My Melancholy Baby	12	The Darktown Strutter’s Ball
4	Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen	13	Goodnight, My Love
5	Saving Myself For You	14	The Muffin Man
6	Pack Up Your Sins And Go To The Devil	15	If Dreams Come True
7	My Wubba Dolly	16	You’re Gonna Lose Your Gal
8	I’m The Lonesomest Gal In Town	17	If You Ever Change Your Mind
9	MacPherson Is Rehearsin’	18	Undecided

Volume 2

1	I Found My Yellow Basket	11	I’m Just A Jitterbug
2	Organ Grinder’s Swing	12	Rock It For Me
3	My Last Affair	13	The Dipsy Doodle
4	All Or Nothing At All	14	I Let A Tear Fall In The River
5	It’s My Turn Now	15	Chew Chew Chew Chew
6	Crying My Heart Out For You	16	Don’t Worry ’Bout Me
7	A Little Bit Later On	17	Ella
8	You Have To Swing It (Mr. Paganini)	18	Wacky Dust
9	Everybody Step	19	Coochi-Coochi-Coo
10	I Got A Guy	20	’Taint What You Do

Volume 3

1	Oh! Lady Be Good	11	Looking For A Boy
2	It’s Only A Paper Moon	12	I’ve Got A Crush On You
3	Flying Home	13	How Long Has This Been Going On?
4	I Didn’t Mean A Word I Said	14	Maybe
5	I’m Just A Lucky So And So	15	Soon
6	How High The Moon	16	Smooth Sailing
7	Basin Street Blues	17	Rough Riding
8	Someone To Watch Over Me	18	You’ll Have To Swing It
9	My One And Only	19	Air Mail Special
10	But Not For Me

As there is only three years difference between the first two volumes they can be dealt with together, especially as twenty-two of the thirty-eight tracks feature Ella Fitzgerald with the Chick Webb Orchestra. Another nine feature her with the Savoy Eight – a small group also made up of musicians from the Chick Webb Orchestra.

Ella joined Chick Webb in 1935 and within a few months they produced a hit record ‘A-Tisket, A-Tasket’ and for the next few years the partnership thrived until Webb’s untimely death in 1939. Ella ran the band for the next two years prior to embarking on a highly successful solo career. The spell with Webb witnessed rapid maturity in both Ella’s voice and interpretation. On these CDs there are some early classics such as ‘My Melancholy Baby, ‘Undecided,’ ‘All Or Nothing At All’ and ‘Don’t Worry ’Bout Me.’ Unfortunately, the collection also includes a certain amount of ‘novelty’ material that I can’t see having much appeal today. Throughout the two albums most of the arrangements are well put together and the musicianship is of the highest standard.

All nineteen tracks on Volume 3 are from Ella’s years with Decca Records and there is quite a diverse selection of material. For sheer artistry and presentation one need look no further than tracks 8-15 featuring Ella singing with only Ellis Larkins accompanying her on piano. All these selections were composed by the Gershwins. One of the great things about her performances over the years was that she always gave her best whether she was with a big band or small group. Her renowned ‘scat’ singing was always well received by audiences world-wide and this collection contains three ‘good old pot-boilers’ – ‘Flying Home,’ ‘How High The Moon’ and ‘Air Mail Special.’ Together with the other ‘scat’ tracks on the album we find Ella making more quotes than Errol Garner did in his whole career. The accompanying bands here are Vic Schoen and His Orchestra and Ray Brown and His Orchestra with the Ray Charles Singers.

As Ella’s music from the Decca years was not released until relatively late the third CD may well fill a gap in some record collections however, overall it is difficult to be enthusiastic about Volumes 1 & 2 as most of the material has been featured on so many compilations.

Jack Ashby

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