ELLA FITZGERALD - IRVING BERLIN SONGBOOK (180g IMPORT 2LP)

It was a long road for the composer Irving Berlin: beginning with 'Alexander’s Ragtime Band' in 1911, leading him on via 'Cheek To Cheek', right up to 'Change Partners' in 1938 - it was one success after another. The once-heard, never-forgotten tunes found in the musicals 'Follow The Fleet' and 'Puttin’ On The Ritz' were simple little songs - taken from life itself. And Ella’s interpretations are just as simple and straightforward, while the arranger Paul Weston held back his soloists too. With the Irving Berlin Songbook, an album has been created in which the small variations on well-known melodies (such as 'Cheek To Cheek' and 'How Deep Is The Ocean') can be truly appreciated, and magical moments or lesser known songs discovered or hummed along to ('I Used To Be Color Blind' and 'Lazy'). But this is also an album which mirrors the history of the Broadway musical in the 1920s and ’30s, the majority of which were written by the Gershwins, Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and a good many of them by Irving Berlin. Nobody knew the tricks of the entertainment trade better than Ella: not only a brilliant scat singer, she was also the very best interpreter of the ballad. And should you need any proof of this, just listen to any song contained within this Songbook (my tip: 'Reaction For The Moon' and 'Always'). Ella’s capability of giving a new interpretation to Irving Berlin’s songs doesn’t end there, however. The 'Song Is Ended' and 'Heat Wave' are rare jewels of swing against which singers right up to the present day are measured. Just why should you buy this particular Songbook? There are two simple reasons: to listen to Ella’s voice and her immense variety is sheer pleasure, and Irving Berlin’s songs offer pure entertainment at the highest level.

  1.    Let’s Face The Music And Dance 
  2.    You’re Laughing At Me 
  3.    Let Yourself Go 
  4.    You Can Have Him 
  5.    Russian Lullaby 
  6.    Puttin’ On The Ritz 
  7.    Get Thee Behind Me Satan 
  8.    Alexander’s Ragtime Band 
  9.    Top Hat, White Tie And Tails 
  10.    How About Me 
  11.    Cheek To Cheek 
  12.    I Used To Be Color Blind 
  13.    Lazy 
  14.    How Deep Is The Ocean (How High Is The Sky) 
  15.    All By Myself 
  16.    Remember 
  17.    Suppertime 
  18.    How’s Chances 
  19.    Heat Wave 
  20.    Isn’t This A Lovely Day 
  21.    You Keep Coming Back Like A Song 
  22.    Reaching For The Moon