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WXDU 88.7 FM
PO Box 90689
Duke Station
Durham, NC 27708
919-684-2957
wxdu@duke.edu
WXDU 88.7 FM
PO Box 90689
Duke Station
Durham, NC 27708
919-684-2957
wxdu@duke.edu
Artist | Song | Album | Label | Comments | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ella FItzgerald | St. Louis Blues | Ella in Rome - The Birthday Concert | Verve | Happy 100th birthday Ella Fitzgerald! Born April 25 1917 | |||
Chick Webb Orchestra | Midnight in a Madhouse | Stomping at the Savoy | Proper UK | inst. | |||
Chick Webb Orchestra v/ Ella Fitzgerald | Love and Kisses | Let's Get Together | 1935 this was Ella's first recording, she was 18 years old | ||||
Benny Goodman Orchestra v/ Ella Fitzgerald | Goodnight, My Love | The Birth of Swing | Bluebird | 1936 Ella made a couple of recordings with Benny Goodman in the first years of her career | |||
Chick Webb Orchestra v/ Ella Fitzgerald | Sing Me a Swing Song and Let Me Dance | Stomping at the Savoy | Proper UK | 1936 when Ella joined the Chick Webb Orchestra she had been homeless, hadn't bathed in months, had no clothes suitable for performing & didn't know how to wear makeup or do her hair. the musicians in the band and the dancers at the Savoy took her under their wing & brought her up to speed | |||
Ella Fitzgerald and her Savoy Eight | Organ Grinder's Swing | Stomping at the Savoy | Proper UK | 1936 this is still Chick Webb's orchestra, the small group "band within a band" was named after Ella to reflect her increasing importance to the band's success | |||
Chick Webb Orchestra v/ Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Jordan & Charles Linton | Wake Up and Live | Stomping at the Savoy | Proper UK | 1937 note that Ella's voice is deeper here to match Jordan and Linton. When singing solo at this point she was raising her voice to model her singing after Connee Boswell | |||
Chick Webb Orchestra | Azure | Stomping at the Savoy | Proper UK | inst. | |||
Ella FItzgerald and the Mills Brothers | Dedicated to You | Mills Brothers Anthology 1931 - 1968 | 1937 | ||||
Chick Webb Orchestra v/ Ella Fitzgerald | A-Tisket, A-Tasket | Ken Burns Jazz | 1938 this was the hit that finally brought success to Webb's orchestra,, it was a signature song throughout Ella's career | ||||
Chick Webb Orchestra v/ Ella Fitzgerald | Undecided | Stomping at the Savoy | Proper UK | 1939 | |||
Chick Webb Orchestra v/ Ella Fitzgerald | 'Tain't What You Do | Let's Get Together | 1939 | ||||
Ella Fitzgerald and her Famous Orchestra | The Starlit Hour | Live at the Roseland Ballroom 26 Feb 1940 | otr-cat.com | 1940 after Webb died in 1939, the band continued with Ella as frontwoman for a couple of years | |||
Chick Webb Orchestra | Blue Lou | Stomping at the Savoy | Proper UK | inst. | |||
Ella FItzgerald and the Ink Spots | I'm Making Believe | Make Mine a Double | Allegro | 1944 Ella toured with the Ink Spots for a couple of years but eventully had a falling out with singer Bill Kenny, who she felt tried to steal the spotlight from her. while standing behind her he would do "fancy moves" as she put it, waving his many gold rings which would hit the lights and draw audience attention to himself. They had a huge argument in which he said "I'm just as popular as you!" She never worked with the Ink Spots again. | |||
Ella FItzgerald and the Delta Rhythm Boys | It's Only a Paper Moon | Queen of Jazz | RCA | 1945 | |||
Ella Fitzgerald | Flying Home | The Very Best of Ella: First Lady of Song | 1945 this recording was hugely influential, a milestone in bop and scat singing | ||||
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan | Stone Cold Dead in the Market | Let the Good Times Roll | Bear Family | 1946 Fitzgerald and Jordan had had a romance while they both worked for Chick Webb, and remained good friends for many years afterwards. They shared a love of novelty songs like this one | |||
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong o/ Bob Haggart | You Won't Be Satisfied Until You Break My Heart | Satchmo Ambassador of Jazz | Verve | 1946 I believe this is Fitzgerald and Armstrong's first recording together, they went on to make 3 albums together in the 50s and 60s | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Bob Haggart | Oh. Lady Be Good | The Very Best of Ella: First Lady of Song | 1947 another influential scat recording from this era | ||||
Dizzy Gillespie & His Orchestra | Our Delight | Big Band Jazz Vol IV | inst. | ||||
Ella Fitzgerald and Ellis Larkins | I've Got a Crush On You | Ella Sings Gershwin | Verve | 1950 this was the first of a number of albums Ella made with solo accompaniment | |||
Ella Fitzgerald w/ Ray Charles Singers | Smooth Sailing | Ken Burns Jazz | 1951 this song is revered for its "hard bop" style. Ella said that at this time her work was starting to feel rote or stale: she toured a great deal with Gillespie and said she would just get up, scat sing in a bop style, and that was that. She said she thought bop was the only style there was | ||||
Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra o/ Oscar Peterson Trio | Necessity | Frank Sinatra in Hollywood | Reprise | 1954 this song was recorded for an animated movie version of FINIAN'S RAINBOW which was never made, but the entire soundtrack was recorded before the project was cancelled | |||
Ella Fitzgerald | Pete Kelly's Blues | Pete Kelly's Blues | 1955 this movie was a Jack Webb project, Ella appeared as a jazz club owner & singer | ||||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Buddy Bregman | All Through the Night | The Cole Porter Songbook | Verve | 1956 the first of the Songbooks and Ella's first album with Norman Grantz' new label Verve. Grantz suggested she record pop songs to bring in a wider audience than jazz devotees | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Buddy Bregman | Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love) | The Cole Porter Songbook | Verve | 1956 THE COLE PORTER SONGBOOK was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000 and in 2003 added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Gene Krupa | I Love Paris | Jazz at the Philharmonic, Hamburg Germany, February 29 1956 | Verve | 1956 FItzgerald performed a great deal with Grantz' JAZZ AT THE PHILHARMONIC series. this song was a request, and it's a great one! | |||
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong | A Foggy Day | Ella and Louis | Verve | 1956 the first of three albums they made together | |||
Art Tatum | Someone to Watch Over Me | Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl | Verve | inst. | |||
Norman Grantz | Introducing the Band | Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl | Verve | 1956 this and the next two tracks are from a jazz concert Grantz produced as part of the JAZZ AT THE PHILHARMONIC series | |||
Ella Fitzgerald | Love for Sale | Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl | Verve | 1956 her backing band included Alvin Stoller d, Barney Kessel g, Joe Mondragon b, Paul Smith p. if you've ever heard the VERVE REMIXED series you'll recognize Ella's riff at the very end of the song, it's used as the hook for one of the tracks in VERVE REMIXED 1 | |||
Ella Fitzgerald | Just One of Those Things | Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl | Verve | 1956 same band as above track | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Buddy Bregman | With A Song in My Heart | The Rodgers and Hart Songbook | Verve | 1956 this album was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Buddy Bregman | Ev'rything I've Got | The Rodgers and Hart Songbook | Verve | 1956 | |||
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong | I Won't Dance | Ella and Louis Again | Verve | 1957 the second of 3 albums these two titans of jazz made together | |||
Duke Ellington Orchestra | Snibor | The Duke: The Columbia Years | Columbia | inst. | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Duke Ellington | It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) | The Duke Ellington Songbook | Verve | 1957 this was the only one in the Songbook series where Fitzgerald was performing with the composer whose songs she was singing | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Duke Ellington | Bli-Blip | The Duke Ellington Songbook | Verve | 1957 recording this album was reportedly not a good experience for Fitzgerald; there wasn't adequate time to rehearse, and Strayhorn hadn't put as much work into the arrangements as he could have. Nonetheless the album yields some amazing songs | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Marty Paich Dek-tette | You Hit the Spot | Ella Swings Lightly | Verve | 1958 Marty Paich had formed the Dek-tette to record with Mel Torme | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Paul Weston | Blue Skies | The Irving Berlin Songbook | Verve | 1958 won the first Grammy for Best Vocal Performance, Female & was nominated for Album of the Year | |||
Ella Fitzgerald | Stompin' at the Savoy | Ella in Rome - The Birthday Concert | Verve | 1958 this concert was recorded on April 25 1958, Ella's 41st birthday, though it's often falsely recorded as her 40th. band: Oscar Peterson p, Ray Brown b, Herb Ellis g, Gus Johnson d | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Nelson Riddle | But Not for Me | The George and Ira Gershwin Songbook | Verve | 1959 this was the largest of the songbooks, 5 LPs in its original release. For this song Ella won the Grammy for Best Vocal Performance, Female | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Nelson Riddle | How Long Has This Been Going On | The George and Ira Gershwin Songbook | Verve | 1959 Ira Gershwin contributed to the project & said later he had "never known how good our songs were until I heard Ella sing them." | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Nelson Riddle | Nice Work If You Can Get It | The George and Ira Gershwin Songbook | Verve | 1959 on a personal note, this is my favorite of the Songbooks | |||
Nelson Riddle Orchestra | Ambulatory Suite | The George and Ira Gershwin Songbook | Verve | inst. | |||
Ella Fitzgerald w/ Paul Smith | I Cried For You | Songs from "Let No Man Write My Epitaph" | Verve | 1960 this album with Smith accompanying Fitzgerald on solo piano was praised for its emotional depth. Fitzgerald was always so joyful in her singing, that she was often criticized for lacking emotional intensity in more somber songs. This album showed that she did have that emotional range | |||
Ella Fitzgerald | How High the Moon | Mack the Knife: The Complete Ella in Berlin | Verve | 1960 This performance is arguably the best scat recording in all of jazz history. band: Paul Smith p, Jim Hall g, Wilfred Middlebrooks db, Gus Johnson d | |||
Ella Fitzgerald | Mack the Knife | Mack the Knife: The Complete Ella in Berlin | Verve | 1960 Ella won the Best Vocal Performance, Female for this song and for the album. band: same as above track | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Billy May | That Old Black Magic | The Harold Arlen Songbook | Verve | 1961 this was the only time Fitzgerald and Billy May worked together | |||
Ella Fitzgerald | 'Round Midnight | Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie! | Verve | 1961 Lou Levy p, Herb Ellis g, Joe Mondragon b, Gus Johnson d | |||
Ella Fitzgerald | Take The 'A' Train | Twelve Nights in Hollywood | Verve | 1961 recorded at the Crescendo in LA, these recordings were lost for decades. band: Lou Levy p, Herb Ellis g, Wilfred Middlebrooks b, Gus Johnson d | |||
Ella Fitzgerald | Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey | Twelve Nights in Hollywood | Verve | 1962 band: Paul Smith p, Wilfred Middlebrooks db, Stan Levey d | |||
Ella Fitzgerald | Bill Bailey Reprise | Twelve Nights in Hollywood | Verve | 1962 band: same as above track | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Nelson Riddle | Love Me or Leave Me | Ella Swings Brightly With Nelson | Verve | 1962 Fitzgerald made five albums with Riddle: THE GEORGE AND IRA GERSHWIN SONGBOOK, ELLA SWINGS BRIGHTLY, THE JEROME KERN SONGBOOK, ELLA SWINGS GENTLY and THE JOHNNY MERCER SONGBOOK | |||
Count Basie Orchestra | Fantail | The Complete Atomic Basie | Roulette | inst. | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Count Basie | Honeysuckle Rose | Ella and Basie! On the Sunny Side of the Street | Polygram | 1963 arr Quincy Jones | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Count Basie | On the Sunny Side of the Street | Ella and Basie! On the Sunny Side of the Street | Polygram | 1963 when Fitzgerald was first hired by the Chick Webb orchestra back in 1935, she lived in the Woodside Hotel where the Basie orchestra also lived (thus inspiring the song "Jumping at the Woodside"). One of her first romances was with Jo Jones, Basie's drummer at the time | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Nelson Riddle | All the Things You Are | The Jerome Kern Songbook | Verve | 1963 | |||
Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme | Medley | The Garry Moore Show | 1963 TV broadcast, apologies for the poor sound quality. Torme expressed regret that he & Fitzgerald never recorded together. He blamed Grantz, calling him "her Svengali." | ||||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Nelson Riddle | Midnight Sun | The Johnny Mercer Songbook | Verve | 1964 this was the only songbook that featured a lyricist, not a composer. Riddle used a five piece band, smaller than his previous collaborations with Fitzgerald | |||
Ella Fitzgerald o/ Duke Ellington | Cottontail | Ella at Duke's Place | Verve | 1965 | |||
Ella Fitzgerald w/ Jimmy Jones Trio | Lullaby of Birdland | The Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington Cote D'Azur Concerts On Verve | Verve | 1966 highly recommend the movie about this concert series: DUKE ELLINGTON AT THE COTE D'AZUR: THE LAST JAM SESSION | |||
Duke Ellington Orchestra | Things Ain't What They Used to Be | The Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington Cote D'Azur Concerts On Verve | Verve | inst. | |||
Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra | The Lady Is a Tramp | TV broadcast: The Man and His Music | 1967 Sinatra was so impressed with Fitzgerald and so glad she was appearing on his TV special that he gave his dressing room to her | ||||
Ella Fitzgerald w/ Oscar Peterson Trio | Mean to Me | Ella and Oscar | Pablo | 1975 | |||
Ella Fitzgerald w/ Joe Pass | Nature Boy | Fitzgerald & Pass .. Again | Pablo | 1976 | |||
Ella FItzgerald and Stevie Wonder | You Are the Sunshine of My Life | We All Love Ella | Verve | 1977 recorded at New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival | |||
Ella Fitzgerald | Is It Live or Is It Memorex? | TV commercial | mid-80s | ||||
Oscar Peterson | They Can't Take That Away from Me | Plays Pretty | inst. | ||||
Ella Fitzgerald | Exactly Like You | Twelve Nights in Hollywood | Verve | goodnight! |