Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook
- Blues In The Night (Ella Fitzgerald)
- Let's Fall In Love (Ella Fitzgerald)
- Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All The Time (Ella Fitzgerald)
- Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (Ella Fitzgerald)
- Shining Hour (Ella Fitzgerald)
Recorded in 1960 and '61, this is one of the last and very best of Fitzgerald's songbooks spotlighting individual composers. Arlen's lyrical songs, filled with bluesy touches and abstractions from the blues form, are perfect jazz fodder (he wrote for Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club, circa 1930), and beautiful tunes in their own right. Fitzgerald is in peak voice; she's attentive to the nuances of soulful lyrics (Ira Gershwin's "The Man That Got Away"), and lightly teases some witty ones (like Johnny Mercer's "Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive"). Billy May's big-band arrangements are models of self-effacing fleetness--punchy without hysteria, smooth without syrup--and enlivened by alto saxophonist Benny Carter and trumpeter Don Fagerquist. But May also brings a delicate sensibility to introductory verses, interludes, and tender ballads. Strings on a few tracks are for variety, not window-dressing. Arlen's graceful American art songs have never had a better showcase--even if they could have skipped "Ding! Dong! The Witch Is Dead." --Kevin Whitehead
Country USA
Brand Verve
Manufacturer Verve Records
Binding Audio CD
ItemPartNumber 731458910824
ReleaseDate 2001-10-09
UnitCount 2
Format Original recording remastered
UPCs 731458910824
EANs 0731458910824

Country	USA
Brand	Verve
Manufacturer	Verve Records
Binding	Audio CD
ItemPartNumber	731458910824
ReleaseDate	2001-10-09
UnitCount	2
Format	Original recording remastered
UPCs	731458910824
EANs	0731458910824

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook

You might also like...