This is probably my favorite jazz/pop vocal album of all time. My best friend introduced me to it years ago, and I am overjoyed to see it properly reissued, complete, at long last. There's something magical in the way that Ella's elegance and Armstrong's robust humor combine to produce music of such overwhelming warmth and sophistication. When you hear Armstrong sing the deliciously quaint and suggestive verse to "Let's Do It," all about the little bluebell in the dell, and the little blue bird ("boid" in New Orleanian), and the little blue clerk, marrying Cole Porter's arch '30s wit to his own much deeper knowledge of human need, you will be won over forever. Likewise Fitzgerald's treatment of even the most mundane lyric -- as in "Don't Be That Way" -- makes it seem like pure gold, AND the most natural advice in the world. Which is not to say that the material is inferior! These are well-chosen standards, lovely tunes that everyone ought to be humming. It's just that these two great singing musicians transform them into something really special. Get this! Get two copies, and give one to *your* best friend. You'll both be happy every time you listen. |