Ella Fitzgerald – The Cole Porter Songbook Volumes 1 & 2 (1956)(verve Digitally Remastered By Dennis Drake)

Ella Fitzgerald had the ability to personalize some of the most recognizable material from the foremost songwriters in American popular music history. In this instance, the combination of Cole Porter's words and Fitzgerald's interpretation of them created one of the most sought after sessions in vocal history - embraced by jazz and pop fans alike, transcending boundaries often associated with those genres. Originally released in 1956 on the Verve label, such standards as "Night and Day," "I Love Paris," "What Is This Thing Called Love," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "You're the Top," and "Love for Sale" secured one of Ella Fitzgerald's crowning moments. The success of these early Porter (and previous Gershwin) sessions brought about numerous interpretations of other songbooks throughout the next several years including those of Rodgers and Hart, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, and Irving Berlin.

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…

An appearance in Hollywood for a first-rate jazz vocalist was not necessarily an opportunity to broadcast the singer's visage and pander to everyone from Tacoma to Tallahassee. It could also include a date at the Crescendo. The Sunset Strip's best chance to find premier jazz, Gene Norman's nightclub hosted dozens of jazz legends (and a comic or two), and produced more than its share of excellent LPs recorded on location. Better even than Mel Tormé's 1954 classic, the Ella Fitzgerald LP that resulted from her May 1961 appearances generated one of the best (and certainly most underrated) live records in her discography. All of her hallmarks - technical wizardry, breakneck scatting, irrepressible humor and warmth - are on full display, with a small but expressive quartet backing her performance (including pianist Lou Levy, guitarist Herb Ellis, drummer Gus Johnson, and bassist Wilfred Middlebrooks)…

Braun's affection for the work of the masterful songwriter has now reached full bloom with Night And Day (The Cole Porter Songbook)- Adi Braun's love affair with the music of Cole Porter runs long and deep. The acclaimed Toronto jazz and cabaret chanteuse has long covered his tunes in her performances and on record. She describes the music of her favorite Great American Songbook writer as "delicious, a great combination of naughty, provocative, sensuous, witty and devastatingly beautiful.