Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Song Book (Remastered - Mono) Ella Fitzgerald

• 1 Rockin' In Rhythm 05:20
• 2 Drop Me Off In Harlem 03:51
• 3 Day Dream 04:00
• 4 Caravan 03:55
• 5 Take The "A" Train 06:45
• 6 I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues 04:43
• 7 Clementine 02:40
• 8 I Didn't Know About You 04:14
• 9 I'm Beginning To See The Light 03:27
• 10 Lost In Meditation 03:27
• 11 Perdido 06:17
• 12 Cotton Tail 03:27
• 13 Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me 07:42
• 14 Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin' 03:34
• 15 Solitude 02:09
• 16 Rocks In My Bed 04:01
• 17 Satin Doll 03:29
• 18 Sophisticated Lady 05:21
• 19 Just Squeeze Me (But Don't Tease Me) 04:17
• 20 It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) 04:15
• 21 Azure 02:24
• 22 I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart 04:12
• 23 In A Sentimental Mood 02:48
• 24 Don't Get Around Much Anymore 05:02
• 25 Prelude To A Kiss 05:31
• 26 Mood Indigo 03:27
• 27 In A Mellow Tone 05:11
• 28 Love You Madly 04:40
• 29 Lush Life 03:40
• 30 Squatty Roo 03:43
• 31 I'm Just A Lucky So And So 04:16
• 32 All Too Soon 04:24
• 33 Everything But You 02:56
• 34 I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) 06:15
• 35 Bli-Blip 03:04
• 36 Chelsea Bridge 03:27
• 37 Portrait Of Ella Fitzgerald 16:17
• 38 The E And D Blues (E For Ella And D For Duke) 04:48
• Total Runtime 02:52:59

Info for Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Song Book (Remastered - Mono)

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book is a 1957 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by the Duke Ellington orchestra, focusing on Ellington's songs.

Part of Fitzgerald's series of 'Songbooks', it is the only one where the composer is also featured as a performer. This was the first time that Fitzgerald had recorded with Ellington. It is also the entry in the Songbook series that provided her with the most opportunities to exhibit her skill at scat singing.

The greater part of disc three is devoted to two original compositions by Strayhorn, inspired by Fitzgerald's life, character and artistry. Fitzgerald's performance on this album won her the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance, Individual at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards.

„Ella Fitzgerald's outstanding songbook series has become an institution unto itself. This 1957 effort is distinguished from Fitzgerald's other songbooks in that it is the only album in which the composer whose work she is singing actively participates. In fact, these recordings are packed with some of the key figures in 20th century jazz. As if Ella and Duke weren't enough, Ellington's arranger/composer Billy Strayhorn, guest musicians Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson, and brilliant record producer Norman Granz all have a hand in the proceedings. And what better backing band could one want than Duke's orchestra? The usual suspects -- Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney, and Sam Woodyard, among others -- contribute fine performances throughout. Duke's spectacular catalog dazzles, and his sprightly, lush textures are transfigured under Fitzgerald's warm-timbred voice and elegant, precise delivery. Included here are classics like "Rockin' in Rhythm," "Caravan," "Satin Doll," "Sophisticated Lady," "Prelude to a Kiss," and "It Don't Mean a Thing...," each tune as familiar as it is delightful to hear in this new context.“ (AMG)

Ella Fitzgerald, vocals
Duke Ellington, piano, narrator, arranger, conductor
Duke Ellington And His Orchestra William "Cat" Anderson, trumpet
Clark Terry, trumpet
Willie Cook, trumpet
Dizzy Gillespie, trumpet on "Take the "A" Train"
Frank Foster, tenor saxophone
Paul Gonsalves, saxophone
Ben Webster, saxophone
Johnny Hodges, alto saxophone
Russell Procope, clarinet, alto saxophone
Jimmy Hamilton, clarinet, tenor saxophone
Harry Carney, clarinet, bass clarinet
John Sanders, trombone
Britt Woodman, trombone
Quentin Jackson, trombone
Ray Nance, trumpet, violin
Stuff Smith, violin
Oscar Peterson, piano
Paul Smith, piano
Ray Brown, double bass
Joe Mondragon, double bass
Jimmy Woode, double bass
Herb Ellis, guitar
Barney Kessel, guitar
Sam Woodyard, drums
Alvin Stoller, drums
Billy Strayhorn, piano, narrator

Produced by Norman Granz

Digitally remastered

Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996)
was, along with Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday, one of the most important vocalists to emerge from the big-band era. Her style is marked by a sunny outlook, a girlish innocence, and a virtuoso command of her voice.

Fitzgerald was born out of wedlock in Newport News, Virginia, to a laundress mother and a father who disappeared when she was three years old. Along with her mother and her mother’s new boyfriend who functioned as a stepfather, she soon moved to Yonkers, New York, where she began her schooling. Around the third grade she started dancing, a pursuit that became almost an obsession. In 1932, when she was fifteen, her mother died suddenly of a heart attack. Her stepfather treated her badly, but an aunt took the teenager to live with her in Harlem. This arrangement did not last long; Fitzgerald ran away in 1934 to live on the streets. Late that year she won a talent contest at the Apollo Theater; she had entered as a dancer, but nervousness caused her to sing instead. Several months later she joined drummer Chick Webb’s big band, where she mostly sang novelties like 'Vote for Mr. Rhythm'. In 1938 she recorded 'A-Tisket, A-Tasket', her own adaptation of a turn-of-the-century nursery rhyme, which took the country by storm and eventually sold a million copies. When Webb died in 1939 the band’s management installed Fitzgerald as leader.

In 1942 the band broke up and Fitzgerald became a single act, touring with various other popular names of the day. She also became interested in scat singing and the newly emerging style known as bebop, and in 1945 she recorded a landmark version of 'Flying Home.' Several tours with the Dizzy Gillespie band also contributed to her assimilation of the bebop style.

In the late 1940s Fitzgerald began to tour with the Jazz at the Philharmonic troupe, working with such leading musicians as saxophonist Lester Young, trumpeter Roy Eldridge, pianist Oscar Peterson, and bassist Ray Brown, to whom she was married for four years. JATP impresario Norman Granz became increasingly influential in her career, and in 1953 he became her manager.

Three years after that he became her record producer as well, recording her on his own Verve label. He wasted little time in having Fitzgerald record a double album of Cole Porter songs. Fitzgerald made many wonderful albums for Verve in the following decade, but the six songbooks occupy a special place in her discography. They were instrumental in expanding Fitzgerald’s appeal beyond that of a 'jazz singer' and creating a demand for her in venues not usually open to jazz artists.

For die-hard jazz fans, though, the well-polished jewels of the songbook series lack the raw energy of Fitzgerald’s live performances. Happily, Granz released several landmark concert albums by her as well. Especially exciting was a 1960 Berlin concert, which featured an electrifying performance of an impromptu take on 'Mack the Knife,' which became a Top 30 single. Fitzgerald usually performed with a trio or quartet, but there were also appearances with larger groups, such as the Duke Ellington and Count Basie orchestras. By the 1960s Fitzgerald had become wealthy enough to retire, but the love of performing drove her on — she appeared regularly until just a couple of years before her death in 1996. Sidemen came and went, but except when health problems intervened she performed as much as humanly possible, sometimes singing concerts in two different cities in one day. Source: Verve Music (Phil Bailey). Excerpted from Ken Burns’ Jazz: The Definitive Ella Fitzgerald

This album contains no booklet.