This 1963 session is a fine meeting of two great performers with a single-minded devotion to swing, a high point for both in the decade. The tunes are all familiar standards, many with roots in jazz, while the arrangements... more » by Quincy Jones seem ideal. They're perfectly matched to Count Basie's idiom while providing a fine complement to Ella Fitzgerald's vocal leads. They may possibly be the best settings ever constructed for her scat singing. Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose" swings infectiously and has Fitzgerald scatting ebulliently, while his "Ain't Misbehavin'" becomes a gentle ballad. The same depth of feeling colors "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall," while "Satin Doll" insinuates and "Them There Eyes" bounces infectiously from the first beat. --Stuart Broomer« less
This 1963 session is a fine meeting of two great performers with a single-minded devotion to swing, a high point for both in the decade. The tunes are all familiar standards, many with roots in jazz, while the arrangements by Quincy Jones seem ideal. They're perfectly matched to Count Basie's idiom while providing a fine complement to Ella Fitzgerald's vocal leads. They may possibly be the best settings ever constructed for her scat singing. Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose" swings infectiously and has Fitzgerald scatting ebulliently, while his "Ain't Misbehavin'" becomes a gentle ballad. The same depth of feeling colors "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall," while "Satin Doll" insinuates and "Them There Eyes" bounces infectiously from the first beat. --Stuart Broomer
"This vocal album broke forever my obsession with any music recorded after 1965. The year after I graduated high school, I was given this as a gift by a friend, and I looked at the cover and thought: "Where can I exchange this for something good?" Fortunately, I opened it, played it, and lost my mind for the next month. A hot, swinging session, full of intense emotion, gleeful play, and ravishing talent. I have been in love with Ella ever since; I own almost all of her recordings; I named my daughter after her. If that doesn't convince you to buy this classic, I have wasted my time writing this."
GREAT STUFF!!!!
Darrren12000 | Washington, DC | 09/08/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"THIS IS A WONDERFUL ALBUM. A LOT OF ELLA'S MUSIC HAS HER WITH LUSH ACCOMPANYMENT -- STRINGS, ET AL. THIS ALBUM HAS HER WITH THE SWINGING BASIE ORCHESTRA, AND, TRUE TO FORM, BASIE IS ON FIRE!!! HE BRINGS OUT THE SOULFUL ELLA AND I'M SURE SHE STIMULATED THE BAND AS WELL. A MUST HAVE FOR FANS OF GOOD MUSIC -- JAZZ OR OTHERWISE."
For Lovers of Swing
Ori Dagan | Toronto | 07/11/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Absolultely priceless. Ella was always impressive when she had someone to impress, as her collaborations with Satch, Duke, and Louis Jordan prove. This 1963 studio date is certainly a winner. The scat exchange on "Honeysuckle Rose" shows that Ella is in a playful mood. Her phrasing throughout the album is inventive and she eloquently re-melodicizes classic standards like "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "On the Sunny Side of the Street". "Tea for Two" is a lesson in sweet sincerity. "Dream a Little Dream of Me" makes Mama Cass actually seem mediocre and once you hear Ella and Basie do "Deed I Do" it is likely no other version will ever satisfy. Basically (or Basie-cally) the entire album is like a big advertisement for the glory days of swing. God Bless Norman Granz."
One of the best combinations ever conceived!
William P. Magliocco | Atlanta, GA USA | 07/28/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I wore out the LP, and probably the 7" open reel tape at the Rochester (NY) Public Library when I was a kid. Now that I'm a touch over 40, I still think that this was one of the finest jazz records ever made. Mr. Granz (up in heaven with all the greats), thank you very, very much for this wonderful aggregation of musical delights."
Rare Summit Meeting
Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 08/08/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Ella plus Basie plus Quincy spells sheer excellence. Moreover, this recording captures all 3 in their prime. Ella is especially commanding on the 2 Ellington tunes--"Satin Doll" and "I'm Beginning to See the Light"-- as well as on that Basie trademark--"Shiny Stockings." For some fans I know, this is the definitive Ella Fitzgerald recording. Yet the album has become difficult to obtain. Originally released on Verve as "On the Sunny Side of the Street," it's been retitled, repackaged, repriced, as well as "re-nationalized." I'd pay the price rather than risk seeing this American treasure disappear from our midst."