Description
20TH CENTURY MASTERWORKS – 180g COLOURED VINYL SERIES
Contains new specially prepared liner notes by PENGUIN GUIDE TO JAZZ’s
writer BRIAN MORTON and by Paris’ prestigious JAZZ MAGAZINE.
ELLA FITZGERALD & LOUIS ARMSTONG : ELLA & LOUIS (Orange Vinyl)
"....The mood of their Verve recording together, though, was deliberately gentler, less taxing, more intimate. These tunes, light in their way, almost homespun, are invested with an extraordinary humanity. There isn’t an ounce of sentiment in “Under a Blanket of Blue� or “Isn’t This a Lovely Day?�, but there is deep feeling and a profound sense of human solidarity. They were not singing about civil rights, there is no erotic charge in the encounter; when they sing about breaking hearts, it’s clear that everything is mendable. The challenge of bebop had been met and quietly negotiated. Here was jazz with its original message: the individual matters, but others matter, too. The mutual respect with which Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and the other four exceptional musicians go through a repertoire of unforgettable standards selected by Granz is readily apparent. Songs like “They Can’t Take That Away from Me�, “Tenderly� and “April in Paris� make Ella & Louis a jewel of simplicity and timeless humanity."
Penguin Guide to Jazz
ELLA FITZGERALD & LOUIS ARMSTRONG - vocals; LOUIS ARMSTRONG, trumpet & Ella Fitzgerald vocals; OSCAR PETERSON, piano; HERB ELLIS, guitar; RAY BROWN, bass; BUDDY RICH, drums
Hollywood, August 16, 1956. Original session produced by Norman Granz.
*Bonus track: Ella Fitzgerald (vc), Louis Armstrong (tp, vc) with Bob Haggart &
His Orchestra. New York, January 18, 1946.
5 Stars – Down Beat Magazine
Ella & Louis is one of the very, very few albums to have been issued in this era of the LP flood that is sure to endure for decades.� (Nat Hentoff)
