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ELLA FITZGERALD ‘Jukebox Ella’ The Complete Verve Singles – Volume 1 Verve 0760582– 2CD Set

 

	DISC 1		DISC 2
1	Stay There	1	The Secret Of Christmas
2	The Sun Forgot To Shine This Morning	2	Medley:- 1) We Three Kings
3	Too Young For The Blues	3	2) O Little Town Of Bethlehem
4	It’s Only A Man	4	You’ll Have To Swing It Mr. Paganini
5	Beale Street Blues	5	Call Me Darling
6	The End Of A Beautiful Friendship	6	Bill Bailey Won’t You Please Come Home
7	The Silent Treatment	7	Ol’ Man Mose
8	Hear My Heart	8	Desafinado
9	Hotta Chocolatta	9	Stardust Bossa Nova
10	A-Tisket A-Tasket	10	All The Live Long Day
11	Teach Me How To Cry	11	I’m A Poached Egg Without Toast
12	Swingin’ Shepherd Blues	12	Ringo Beat
13	Your Red Wagon	13	I’m Falling In Love
14	Travelin’ Light	14	She’s Just A Quiet Girl
15	Oh, What A Night For Love	15	We Three (Echo, My Shadow and Me)
16	Dreams Are Made For Children	16	The Shadow Of Your Smile
17	But Not For Me	17	A Place For Lovers
18	The Christmas Song	18	Lonely Is

The thirty-six tracks on ‘Jukebox Ella’ make a compilation covering the first two volumes of Ella Fitzgerald’s 45rpm discs for Verve Records recorded between 1956 and 1968.

The combinations of titles recorded by Ella are infinite so on items such as this we must expect some ‘rough with the smooth’ – in this case there are seven or so titles that just don’t fit in. Even the Gershwins had off days with novelty numbers such as ‘I’m a Poached Egg Without Toast.’ The sleeve notes referring to the contents claim that, ‘Her impeccable artistry and wonderful voice makes every one a hit.’ No way! Ella was the number one female jazz singer but commercialism forced her into producing some very mediocre material.

Ella Fitzgerald was a unique singer and performer greatly respected in her profession and most musicians would have queued up to accompany her. Here her main accompanists are orchestras led by Buddy Bregman, Frank Devol, Paul Weston, Marty Paich, Gordon Jenkins and of course Nelson Riddle. There is also a flavour of small group material. All the tracks have individual qualities but there are a few that really appealed.

‘The Sun Forgot To Shine This Morning’ is a new title to me and Ella makes a superb job of this well written and haunting ballad accompanied by Buddy Bregman. Only Ella could get away with singing Hoagy Carmichael’s all time favourite ‘Stardust’ as a Bossa Nova and it works well. Other titles strictly belong to Ella’s unique repertoire such as ‘A-Tisket A-Tasket’ and ‘Bill Bailey Won’t You Please Come Home.’ Ignoring the uninteresting material, generally this CD provides some vintage and classic Ella backed by the best orchestras of the day.

Jack Ashby

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