Ella Sings The Cole Porter Songbook

[Soulstation1]

ella was on top of her game on these songs

ss1

Edited July 1, 2004 by Soulstation1

[BruceH]

I wonder if any of this appears in the soundtrack to that new Cole Porter bio movie, De Lovely? Probably not.

[A Lark Ascending]

My equal second favourite of the songbooks. Ties with the Ellington; the Rodgers and Hart my personal favourite.

[Soulstation1]

get out of town is one of my favs

i don't think any of ella's songs will be inclusded the film.

it's all current artists singing/performing in the film

ss1

[wolff]

"Too Darn Hot" is great. Love the trumpet solo/backing.

"Don't Fence In" is another fav.

Great recording. I wish other engineers could get the voice/band mix this perfect.

[Soulstation1]

i didn't know bud shank plays on this set

ss1

[brownie]

Ella was not my favorite singer. But I love that Cole Porter Songbook!

[Rabshakeh]

I've been listening to the Songbook records recently. 

Interesting how strongly the personalities of the different composers comes through. The way standards are talked about sometimes makes them seem like a mass of traditional material. 

[JSngry]

25 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

Interesting how strongly the personalities of the different composers comes through. The way standards are talked about sometimes makes them seem like a mass of traditional material. 

Not just talked about, but performed...especially by instrumentalists who don't really pay attention to lyrics and or use of same to reach people who used to be dancing to them for some form or another of satisfactions.

[danasgoodstuff]

1 hour ago, Rabshakeh said:

I've been listening to the Songbook records recently. 

Interesting how strongly the personalities of the different composers comes through. The way standards are talked about sometimes makes them seem like a mass of traditional material. 

And that of the different arrangers used, I think they made good choices in matching them up but I'm open to suggestions regarding that.

[Teasing the Korean]

As I wrote in another thread, I think Ella's Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hart Songbook albums are marred by the sub-par arrangements of Buddy Bregman.  As a result, those are my least favorite of the bunch. This is unfortunate, as Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hart are among my favorite songwriters of that era.  Oh well.  

[JSngry]

Not liking Bregman as well. Love Riddle with everybody. He does a lot of easy-expectations things, but he's got a zone that set him apart from anybody except, maybe, Robert Farnon at his most outre.

Like this:

 I mean, WHO DOES THAT?!?!?!?!?!?!

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Love Riddle with everybody. He does a lot of easy-expectations things, but he's got a zone that set him apart from anybody except, maybe, Robert Farnon at his most outre.

Riddle's intros alone on Sinatra's Wee Small Hours album are amazing.  I have long been tempted to create files of just the intros and listen to them in a row. 

[Rabshakeh]

3 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

As I wrote in another thread, I think Ella's Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hart Songbook albums are marred by the sub-par arrangements of Buddy Bregman.  As a result, those are my least favorite of the bunch. This is unfortunate, as Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hart are among my favorite songwriters of that era.  Oh well.  

Pleased you said this. I am with you too, particularly on the Cole Porter.

Rodgers and Hart's compositions have a light show-tunesey quality that I think works better. It helps that Fitzgerald's voice fits their songs too. I don't think arrangements affect it so much. 

Actually, my view is that the records as a whole stand out as singer vs composer, with the band and the arrangements for once being a little less important.

I think that the record I have enjoyed most has been the Irving Berlin - comparatively underrepresented when it comes to the post-1945 songbook - but so dark and deep when handled in a double album form.

[danasgoodstuff]

I like Bregman just fine on the Porter, relistening to it right now.  Maybe I'm just used to it since I've been hearing it since I was a child, and that's a long time.

[JSngry]

Ella/Porter got a second chance in 1972 on Atlantic, this time with Riddle.

Granz must have liked it so much that he reissued it on Pablo! And recorded two more songs in 1978, again with Riddle!

[Teasing the Korean]

36 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Ella/Porter got a second chance in 1972 on Atlantic, this time with Riddle.

Granz must have liked it so much that he reissued it on Pablo! And recorded two more songs in 1978, again with Riddle!

Never knew about this!!!

[JSngry]

It's not a lost masterpiece or anything, but it's an interesting companion to the Verve Songbook records in several ways, not the least of which is a more modern recording technique and sounb. 

Just checked, and Dream Dancing is on Spotify. 

[danasgoodstuff]

If I'm going to play a different Porter Songbook, it'll be Lee Wiley's (which is earlier than Ella's) or Bird's.

[JSngry]

[danasgoodstuff]

6 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Thanks for the reminder, I'm pretty sure I've seen this but never heard it.  But Desmond should sound great on those tunes.

 

This is pretty nice, I have a reissue but haven't listened for a while.  Maybe it's next.

[Teasing the Korean]

I love The Columbia album of Cole Porter by Michel Legrand.