Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Can't We Be Friends?
2. Isn't This a Lovely Day?
3. Moonlight in Vermont
4. They Can't Take That Away from Me
5. Under a Blanket of Blue
6. Tenderly
7. Foggy Day
8. Stars Fell on Alabama
9. Cheek to Cheek
10. Nearness of You
11. April in Paris
12. Don't Be That Way
13. Makin' Whoopee
14. They All Laughed
15. Comes Love
16. Autumn in New York

Disc 2:

1. Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)
2. Stompin' at the Savoy
3. I Won't Dance
4. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You
5. Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
6. These Foolish Things
7. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
8. Willow Weep for Me
9. I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket
10. Fine Romance
11. Ill Wind
12. Love Is Here to Stay
13. I Get a Kick Out of You
14. Learnin' the Blues
15. You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)
16. Undecided

Disc 3:

1. Porgy and Bess: Overture
2. Summertime
3. I Wants to Stay Here
4. My Man's Gone Now
5. I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'
6. Buzzard Song
7. Bess, You Is My Woman Now
8. It Ain't Necessarily So
9. What You Want Wid Bess?
10. Woman Is a Sometime Thing
11. Oh, Doctor Jesus
12. Medley: Here Come de Honey Man/Crab Man/Oh, Dey's So Fresh and Fine
13. There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon for New York
14. Oh Bess, Oh Where's My Bess?
15. Oh, Lawd, I'm on My Way!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8592 in Music
• Brand: Armstrong
• Released on: 1997-06-16
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Box set, Limited Edition
• Dimensions: .31 pounds

Customer Reviews

A better pairing does not exist.
The music gods smiled upon us several decades back when they permitted these two American treasures to pair up to create a number of memorable recordings. Happily, their efforts have been captured and reproduced on disc here. These discs capture the Verve recording sessions that are now legendary.

The contrast between the two of them is phenomenal. These contain Ella Fitzgerald when her voice was at its very strongest, and it was as clear as a bell. This contrasts with the unmistakable rasp that comes from Louis, but also is complemented by some of the most dynamic trumpet work this side of heaven. There is a wonderful juxtaposition of the two of them when they close out "Tenderly", and Louis scats and Ella's voice mimics his wonderfully identifiable voice.

"A Fine Romance", "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and "Stompin at the Savoy" are but a few of the classics here. Of course, nothing in the world is like their duet on the Gershwin classic "Summertime", which alone makes this worth the price of the set. These two classics together that cannot be beat.

Amazing Chemistry Makes These Tracks Shine
I am quite sure that there are few duets of any musical genre, regardless of the artists, that can easily match the magical chemistry that these two performers exhibit on these wonderful tracks. I could be wrong, but I believe that much of the magic is due to the total musicality of Louis Armstrong, a giant personality who could probably duet with anyone and have the results cook. There is, I believe, an equal chemistry on the two tracks that Louis Armstrong recorded with Billie Holiday for Decca.

Not that there is anything wrong with Ella, long known as the First lady of Song -she's one of my favorites, and with good reason. The tracks that are presented on the "Complete" Ella and Louis - as others have noted, these are only the complete VERVE tracks - are utterly sublime. There is not a bad performance among them. As long as people are mentioning their favorite track, mine is Stars Fell on Alabama, but that just happens to be a personal preference.

Many have mentioned the Ella / Louis Decca duets. There is an import CD by Blue Moon Records called "Ella and Satchmo" which contains numerous solo tracks by both Ella and Louis, and five of their Decca duets (I don't know if there are more - I wish Decca would put out a CD of the complete Ella / Louis duets). For those who may be interested, the duet tracks on the Blue Moon release are Would You Like to Take a Walk, Dream a Little Dream of Me, Frim Fram Sauce, You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart) and Can Anyone Explain. Well worth the investment, since the performances (if not the accompaniment) are equal to the later Verve duets. Some of the solo tracks are quite interesting as well.

If you could own only one music collection ...
This set has every worthwhile song ever recorded by what may be the best musical duo ever. And even though the price tag may seem high for a collection of ancient standards that for the most part had already been remastered for single-CD collections, I see it as a good value for money given the quality of the packaging and the fact that almost everything Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong ever recorded is here.

That last part is what really earns this set five stars. There is no shortage of adjectives to describe this unlikely pair -- I've heard satin and sandpaper, for example, or honey and gravel -- and it is the unique contrast between their vocal styles alluded to with those descriptions and the chemistry they share that help them create what can only be viewed as magic.

By putting everything in one set, Polygram all but eliminates the need to accumulate any additional CDs from this duo. To wit: this is the only set I know of that includes Ms. Fitzgerald's and Mr. Armstrong's most playful song (Makin' Whoopee), their best known standard (Cheek to Cheek), and my personal favorite (Summertime).

If you have heard any of these songs and you enjoyed the music even partly as much as I do, then this is a must-have collection.