Tag: Ella Fitzgerald

New Ella, If You Can Find It

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Have you read about the newly discovered and newly released Ella Fitzgerald Boxed Set from 1961 and 1962? It’s called Twelve Nights in Hollywood and it features 76 songs recorded at the Crescendo in Los Angeles. I read the article in The New York Times on Sunday and was pretty excited and I was a little down today and I figured, well, what could be better on a down day than Ella. There are plenty of places that sell CDs near where I live — I’m in the New York metropolitan area, so really, they’re all over the place, or at least they used to be. And it’s Christmas shopping season, so every place should be fully stocked, right? Well, so far I’ve called six different stores and not a single one is carrying this item. Zero. They all told me to go online and I could get free shipping. So why bother having a retail store at all?

Jazz Vinyl Countdown: Ella Sings Cole

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I realized the other day I may have a problem with this Great Jazz Vinyl Countdown. And that problem has to do with Ella Fitzgerald. I realized this when I had a bit of free time with the lovely Mrs. JC and she asked me to put on some music. “How about something nice?” she said. Something nice, in her eyes, is usually a nice jazz vocal, or perhaps a Stan Getz on Verve, or Bill Evans Waltz For Debby. Anyway, I put on this LP, Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book, Verve 4001-02, and Mrs. JC was quite pleased, as was I. This is Ella’s first songbook effort and you will not find too many records better than this and there is no doubt about it garnering a place in the top 1,000. What I realized when I put the vinyl on the turntable, however, is this:

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A Tale of a Few Vocalists

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I was perusing a Web site called Jazz.com the other day. They’ve been picking up a few of my posts here and there and sending traffic my way, which I appreciate. Anyway, they pointed to another feature from another post somewhere else in which the great drummer Jimmy Cobb was asked to list his six favorite records. Anyway, there was Miles Birth of the Cool and, of course, Kind of Blue, on which Cobb played. Then there was an Oscar Peterson and, incredibly to me, a Wynton Marsalis. I won’t comment on that one. The two that struck me were the vocalists: Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. This brought up a conversation I had with a friend last weekend. He had made the point that he believed there were three premium vocal stylists (in the jazz idiom, of course) in the 20th Century. They were:

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Today on eBay, September 26

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Here are some other interesting items on eBay today. This first one is a beauty: Lee Morgan, Sextet, Blue Note 1541. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing in very nice condition. The current price is $360, but it should go for quite a bit more.  Our friends at Euclid Records have a few nice Blue Note originals selling today, including this one: Jimmy Smith, New Sound – New Star, Blue Note 1512.  This one is an original Lexington Avenue pressing and is already more than $120. Here’s a seller with a large number of items, including this one: Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland Volume Two, Blue Note 1522. This is an original Lexington Avenue in VG condition. Price now is $56. When you look at this seller’s other items, make sure you check the condition. Finally, here’s one I like a lot, but doesn’t seem to be generating too much interest, based on the price and lack of bidding: Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Songbook, Verve 4010-4. This is the boxed set edition, including four records and the booklet. Current price is $19.99.

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