Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Song Book (1958/2013) [HDTracks FLAC 24bit/192kHz]

Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Song Book (1958/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192kHz | Time – 01:31:07 minutes | 3,82 GB | Genre: Jazz
Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | © Verve Records
Recorded: Los Angeles, CA, March 13-19, 1958

Released in 1958, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook features arrangements by Paul Weston. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for ALbum of the Year at the inaugural Grammy Awards. Fitzgerald won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Female.

It is difficult to know where to begin when approaching an artist as wonderful as Ella Fitzgerald, especially when covering a revered recording like Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book from the late ’50s. This set includes two CDs with 32 songs chosen from Berlin’s collection of nearly 800 songs. These selections are perfectly suited for Fitzgerald’s voice and her romantic sensibility; they are happy, occasionally sad, and full of swinging rhythm. A few of these songs — “Cheek to Cheek,” “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” and “Blue Skies” — will be most familiar; others, “Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails,” “Russian Lullaby,” and “All By Myself” are as memorable but perhaps less known. Choices like “Isn’t This a Lovely Day?” feature everything a listener would want in a song: intelligent lyrics, memorable melodies, and a strong emotional center. To say that Fitzgerald is in good voice for these recordings would be an understatement; her presentation here is simply regal. It should be pointed out that these two- and three-minute tunes are tightly arranged, and don’t allow the freedom of extended scat singing as on Ella in Berlin. The arrangements are also lovely, featuring the tasteful support of Paul Weston & His Orchestra, which never overpowers Fitzgerald. Such songs as “Cheek to Cheek” and “How Deep Is the Ocean?” — the standards that once dominated singers’ repertoires — seem absent from today’s musical scene. That may be unfortunate, but they continue to live healthy lives in recordings like this one. For fans who have enjoyed other songbook recordings, this reissue is a must-have; for those unfamiliar with Fitzgerald’s songbook work, this is an excellent place to start. -AllMusic Review by Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.

Tracklist:
1 Lets Face The Music And Dance 2:58
2 You’re Laughing At Me 3:18
3 Let Yourself Go 2:20
4 You Can Have Him 3:47
5 Russian Lullaby 1:55
6 Puttin’ On The Ritz 2:19
7 Get Thee Behind Me Satan 3:49
8 Alexander’s Ragtime Band 2:43
9 Top Hat, White Tie And Tails 2:36
10 How About Me? 3:18
11 Cheek To Cheek 3:49
12 I Used To Be Color Blind 2:34
13 Lazy 2:40
14 How Deep Is The Ocean (How High Is The Sky) 3:12
15 All By Myself 2:29
16 (You Forgot To) Remember 3:27
17 Suppertime 3:19
18 How’s Chances? 2:49
19 Heat Wave 2:26
20 Isn’t This A Lovely Day 3:30
21 You Keep Coming Back Like A Song 3:36
22 Reaching For The Moon 2:19
23 (Let’s Go) Slumming On Park Avenue 2:24
24 The Song Is Ended (But The Melody Lingers On) 2:30
25 I’m Putting All My Eggs In One Basket 3:01
26 Now It Can Be Told 3:13
27 Always 3:09
28 It’s A Lovely Day Today 2:29
29 Change Partners 3:19
30 No Strings (I’m Fancy Free) 3:04
31 I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm 3:00