The Best of the Songbooks

Performer: Ella Fitzgerald
Artist: Ben Webster; Nelson Riddle Orchestra; Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
Engineer: Val Valentin
Producer: Norman Granz
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel includes: Ella Fitzgerald (vocals); Wilie Smith (alto saxophone); Ben Webster (tenor saxophone); Buddy DeFranco (clarinet); Stuff Smith (violin); Paul Smith (piano); Barney Kessel (guitar); Joe Mondragon (bass); Alvin Stoller (drums); Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, Nelson Riddle Orchestra, Paul Weston Orchestra, Buddy Bregman Orchestra, Billy May Orchestra. Recorded between 1956 and 1964. Includes liner notes by Geoffrey Mark Fidelman. THE BEST OF THE SONG BOOKS contains 16 Fitzgerald performances culled from the 8-volume, 16-CD Verve Song Book series, which spotlights Fitzgerald's interpretations of tunes by Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer and Cole Porter. Personnel: Ella Fitzgerald (vocals); John Collins, Al Hendrickson, Barney Kessel (guitar); Stuff Smith (violin); Russell Procope (clarinet, alto saxophone); Jimmy Hamilton (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Buddy DeFranco (clarinet); Harry Carney (bass clarinet, baritone saxophone); Johnny Hodges, Ted Nash, Willie Smith (alto saxophone); Paul Gonsalves, Ben Webster, Bob Cooper (tenor saxophone); Clark Terry, Don Fagerquist, Ray Nance, Willie Cook, Cat Anderson (trumpet); Quentin Jackson, John Sanders, Britt Woodman (trombone); Duke Ellington, Paul Smith (piano); Frank Flynn , Larry Bunker (vibraphone); Alvin Stoller, Sam Woodyard (drums). Audio Remasterer: Phil Schaap. Liner Note Author: Geoffrey Mark Fidelman. Recording information: Los Angeles, CA (02/07/1956-10/??/1964); New York, NY (02/07/1956-10/??/1964). Editor: Peter Pullman. Photographer: Popsy Randolph. Unknown Contributor Role: Jon Schapiro. Arrangers: Nelson Riddle; Paul Weston; Buddy Bregman. Considering the enormity of the task, the good compilers at Verve have done a fine job picking the "best" of Ella Fitzgerald's massive seven-composer Songbook series. In fact, there are more than few other collections drawn from the Songbooks, two of which, BALLADS and LOVE SONGS, previously combined with the more general THE BEST OF THE SONGBOOKS to make up a limited edition 3-CD box set. All three titles are now only available as individual discs. That said, a representative sampler like this is an excellent place to begin exploring Fitzgerald's great recordings for Verve. The opener "Something's Gotta Give" (Mercer), "Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea" (Arlen) and "Cottontail" (Ellington) capture Ella at her most virtuosic, scat-singing to the point of abandon but still utterly relaxed and musicianly. On the slow side, fans of the Gershwins' "Love Is Here To Stay" should delight in the singer's near-definitive version as well as the other selections from her monumental Gershwin set, "'S Wonderful" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me."

Through unparalleled ability and judicious choice of repertoire, Ella Fitzgerald became the foremost female interpreter of the 20th-century Great American Popular Song Book. With producer Norman Granz she worked on the "songbook" series, placing on record definitive performances of the work of America's leading songwriters. Fitzgerald had a wide vocal range, but her voice retained a youthful, light vibrancy throughout the greater part of her career, bringing a fresh and appealing quality to most of her material, especially her scat singing. While there are still numerous excellent artists whose work has been strongly influenced by Fitzgerald, the social and artistic conditions that helped to create America's First Lady of Song no longer exist, and it seems highly unlikely that we shall ever see or hear her like again.

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