Description
After Ella Fitzgerald disbanded her own orchestra (the former Chick Webb band in 1941, she was free to record for Decca in a variety of musical contexts. This 2-CD set presents the complete contents of the original album "The First Lady of Song" (Decca DL-8695), along with all other tracks from the same sessions and several further rarely heard dates from the same period. All of the tracks showcase Ella as the main singer backed by various orchestras and instrumental groups. [Her Decca studio duets with other vocalists of vocal groups can be found on the companion 2-CD set "Ella & Her Fellas", EJC55732, and further orchestra tracks would follow in the incoming double set Lullabies of Birdland]
Among the many highlights here are Ella's original versions of such hits as "Mr. Paganini," "My One and Only Love," "The Tender Trap," "I've Got the World on a String," and "Angel Eyes," among many others. A 1947 live vocal duet with drummer (and also singer) Buddy Rich, taken from a radio broadcast and first issued on a V-disc, closes this extraordinary collection.