Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7295 in Digital Music Album
• Published on: 2002-10-29
• Released on: 2002-10-29
• Running time: 0 seconds

Customer Reviews

Great for Ella Fans
I got this CD just before Christmas 2007 and it is so good I am still playing it in the car on Easter!!! My favorite song on this CD is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, "Hang down your nose Rudy, hang down your nose and cry." I can't resist singing along.

Spirited, jazzy updates on Christmas classics in Ella's inimitable style
I have nearly twenty Ella Fitzgerald recordings, and she is without a doubt my favorite jazz interpreter of all time. I also have a large collection of Christmas CDs, including Celtic, Polish, and standards, so when I finally got my hands on a copy of Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas, I was thrilled.

Containing eighteen tracks (including several alternate takes), you'll find swinging covers of Jingle Bells, Sleigh Ride, Frosty, and Let It Snow!, along with some surprising choices such as Good Morning Blues and an upbeat Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Ella's tight phrasing and genius timing make these old standards swing, but she also shows a sultrier side on What Are You Doing New Year's Eve. Christmas Island is a fun Andrew Sisters / Der Bingle jingle that hearkens back to WWII.

Ella uses her indomitable sense of playfulness to rejuvenate some potentially tired Christmas classics; nowhere is this more evident than on an alternate take of Frosty, where she adopts a little-girl pout complete with lisp. It was cute for one listen, but I found myself skipping over it on subsequent plays. Another fact that was a bit jarring was that the alternate tracks were not from the same sessions as the album tracks; they were recorded with a different orchestra as well. But the remastered sound quality is impeccable, and Ella's never sounded better. An extensive liner note essay by Will Friedwald only sweetens the deal.

Ella rocks!
This is a fabulous CD -- Ella's voice is a Christmas present in and of itself.