Sings the Cole Porter Song Book (CD - 1956)

Producer: Norman Granz.

Reissue producer: Richard Seidel.

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, California in February 1956. Includes liner notes by Robert Kimball.

Digitally remastered by Dennis Drake (PolyGram Studios).

Personnel includes: Ella Fitzgerald (vocals); Buddy Bregman (conductor); Bud Shank (alto saxophone, flute, clarinet); Herb Geller (alto saxophone, clarinet); Ted Nash (tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet); Bob Cooper (tenor saxophone, clarinet, oboe); Chuck Gentry (baritone saxophone, bass clarinet); Pete Candoli, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Maynard Ferguson, Conrad Gozzo (trumpet); Milt Bernhart, Joe Howard, Lloyd Ulyate (trombone); George Roberts (bass trombone); Robert La Marchina, Edgar Lustgarten (cello); Corky Hale (harp); Paul Smith (piano, celeste); Barney Kessel (guitar); Joe Mondragon (bass); Alvin Stoller (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California on February 7-9 and March 27, 1956. Includes original release liner notes by Don Freeman, Fred Lounsberry and Norman Granz and liner notes by Neil Tesser.

Though better known for her remarkable scat-singing abilities, Ella Fitzgerald was a genius at interpreting songwriters. It's as if she felt she had to understand and express every nuance of a lyric before she was comfortable enough with it to let fly from her vocal chords. As a result, whenever Fitzgerald was matched with a particularly outstanding set of lyrics, fireworks could be assumed to follow.

Cole Porter may be the finest lyricist in pop music history, which obviously makes Fitzgerald's COLE PORTER SONGBOOK VOLUME ONE one of her finest-ever releases. The coupling of lyricist and singer is so perfect that the listing of highlights becomes superfluous. Buddy Bregman's arrangements are slick but never intrusive, catching every bit of musical humor in a saucy tune like "Too Darn Hot" and investing ballads like "Begin the Beguine" with just enough elegance and emotion. This album is simply perfect.

One of Ella Fitzgerald's great vocal assets was that throughout her long career, her voice retained an essentially innocent quality. It was in this vocal characteristic, combined with the singer's consummate musical mastery, that Norman Granz heard the ideal vehicle for a selection of readings from the Great American Songbook. Ella's coolly detached approach to interpreting lyrics is nowhere better displayed than on this album of songs by one of the most sophisticated American songwriters, Cole Porter, in which she delivers both his refined dance songs, such as "Begin the Beguine," and his popular classics, such as the regretful "It Was Just One of Those Things," with equal conviction and technical skill. minimize