Forever Ella, released in the UK on Monday and readily available as a supermarket sub-£10 impulse buy, is a fitting tribute to mark today’s 90th birthdate of the magnificent First Lady of Song.
The 20 track CD (not to be confused with an equally excellent but very different 1995 compilation of the same name – they share only three tracks) covers Ella’s main bases, with six tracks from the Cole Porter songbook and most of the other tracks from the other songbook projects, plus a couple of Louis Armstrong duets.
If you bought Gold, the wonderful last (2CD) Fitzgerald compilation, you already have half the songs on Forever Ella. On the other hand, collectors are catered for by new orchestral backing by the London Symphony Orchestra on Cry Me A River, and new remixes of the last two tracks.
Verve has developed the attractive cartoon Ella cover artwork which made Gold and the latest Ella/Louis Armstrong compilation stand out on the shelves, though they’ve changed the colour palette from blue to yellow. Gorgeous.
If you don’t possess any Ella Fitzgerald recordings, make Forever Ella your first. It’s a beauty.
Best price I’ve seen: amazon.co.uk (£8.99). If you can wait a few months, you’ll probably be able to pick it up for about £6 with the cat food and cornflakes.
Tracklist
1. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
2. Cry Me A River
3. Manhattan
4. Best Is Yet To Come
5. I Get A Kick Out Of You
6. Cheek To Cheek
7. Don't Fence Me In
8. Get Happy
9. Night And Day
10. Let's Face The Music And Dance
11. Summertime
12. Someone To Watch Over Me
13. Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)
14. They Can't Take That Away From Me
15. Let's Fall In Love
16. You Do Something To Me
17. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)
18. Fine Romance
19. Wait Till You See Him
20. Angel Eyes
Gerry Smith
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