Does the world need another Ella Fitzgerald collection? Concord certainly hopes so, since they've combined with Starbucks (bet you didn't see that coming) to produce their latest tribute to a musical legend. Love Letters From Ella, which is tagged as celebrating what would have been her 90th birthday, includes ten tracks that are described as "never-before-released love songs."
I reviewed an album from Concord last year that digitally combined the singing of Ray Charles with the music of the Count Basie Band. Now - as then - my intent is to concentrate on reviewing the music itself, rather than the process, but I do need to mention that this new Ella release is also "enhanced," although not as much so. It appears that a lot of this material is reasonably faithful to the original recordings, but the album notes - which are not very detailed - do seem to indicate some tinkering and additions.
As I said, let's listen to the music. We know Ella is as good as they get, and these recordings began life in the middle stage of her long career — late 1950s to early 1970s. The songs are good choices, the accompaniment - whether it's Count Basie, André Previn, guitarist Joe Pass or others - is first class, and the blending has been skillfully done. In short, a nice listen.
I love old ballads, and with Ella in full voice the listener is in for a treat. Choices range from the lively sound of "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone," with Ella delightfully backed by the Basie sound, to the plaintive "Cry Me A River," a song made famous by Julie London but originally intended for Ella. Ironically, the London Symphony Orchestra (which is named for the city, not Julie) is added for backing here on Ella's version, and the result is a very nice sound.
Article comments
1 - Nat le Gros Monstre
Great article. I love Ella, yet reading this I realized, I don't actually own an Ella CD...shame on me. Is this a good collection or would you recommend another?
2 - Big Geez
Thanks for the comment, Nat. Yep, this is a pretty good collection and another would be Pure Ella but in all honesty there are a lot of good albums available, so you might want to buy based on the kind of music you like best from her -- ballads, old stuff, new stuff, whatever.
Thanks again...
3 - Michael J. West's Assistant
Now that you mention it, Pure Ella and this one have no overlap in tracks. I'd recommend a listener get both. :-) (Pure Ella has the big hits, but a collection without "I've Got the World on a String" is an incomplete collection.)
4 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites and Boston.com.