Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook, Volumes 1 and 2 (MGV 4008-2 and 4009-2),1957

In 1957 Norman Granz went to great lengths to set up a recording session for Ella Fitzgerald with Duke Ellington and his orchestra. It was to be the third in a series of Songbooks for Ella. The series had started extremely successfully with the Cole Porter Songbook and continued with the Rodgers and Hart Songbook. Ella had never recorded with Ellington before, so this must have been an exciting prospect for her. 

Hoping to get four LPs of music, Granz booked the New York Fine Studios for four days, June 24 to June 27. When Ellington and Billy Strayhorn arrived on the first day, they had very little prepared material—five scores according to David Hajdu and fourteen according to Walter van de Leur  (Hajdu, Lush Life, 168; van de Leur, 135) Granz recalled, “Strays had some arrangements, but nothing close to what we needed. Duke was supposed to do some and Strays did some, but Duke came without anything done…. Ella really was very upset, and she didn’t want to do it. She wanted to walk out.” 

Ella was persuaded to stay, and the first day went well as two of Strayhorn’s prepared new scores were used: “Day Dream” and  “Take the A Train.” But the following day, according to Ella, “It was a panic scene, with Duke almost making up arrangements as we went along.” (Stuart Nicholson, Reminiscing in Tempo, 315) Granz  recalled: “There was nothing written. Duke would ask Ella what key she was in and he would have to transpose and there would be a lot of furious writing to change the key. Then Ella would try and fit in, and the band would be swept along by its own memories of just how it ought to play, and so Ella, as you can hear on some songs, was fighting for her very life…. Really, at one point she became so nervous, almost hysterical, that she began to cry. Duke went over her and said, ‘Now, baby,” in his most gentle tones. ‘Don’t worry, it’ll all turn out fine.” (Nicholson, 315) 

Ellington bassist Jimmy Woode remembers the stress Ella was under: “Ella and Billy [Strayhorn] had a rough time. That wasn’t the way either of them liked to work. They were perfectionists. They were accustomed to planning and having the work fine-tuned to perfection. The idea of faking your way through “Chelsea Bridge” by humming along was terribly difficult for them to accept.” (Nicholson, 316)

Somehow they all worked through the four days of studio time, finally completing just nineteen tracks. Eleven were eventually placed on the first LP of Volume 1 and eight on the second LP of Volume 2. 

Filling out the Album

Not long into the four days of recording, Granz realised that they were not going to record enough acceptable music for his two double LPs. Ellington, clearly anxious to keep Granz happy, offered to write a four-movement suite, “Portrait of Ella Fitzgerald,” to help fill out the material needed. This suite was recorded two months later on September 2 . Again Granz would be disappointed as Ellington used an old composition, “All Heart,” and a straight ahead jam session to fill out the promised Portrait. Granz felt this was “padding.” (Hajdu, 168)

But even this extra suite was not enough to fill the double albums. Granz had to assemble a small group to record more Ellington numbers with Ella. Nineteen tracks were recorded in California much later (September 14 and 16; October 17). The group, chosen by Granz, included Ben Webster, tenor, Stuff Smith, violin, Alvin Stoller, drums, Joe Mondragon, bass, Barney Kessel, guitar, and Oscar Peterson, piano. 

                                                                                                                                                               Norman Granz, holding a tennis racket, with Ella FItzgerald

The Nineteen Tracks With the Ellington Orchestra

Ella Fitzgerald was at the peak of her career in 1957 when she undertook this recording. Her experience must have helped her deal with the difficult situation; she made the best of a bad job. She was clearly well prepared, showing familiarity with both the compositions and the lyrics. Her renowned scat-singing ability was extremely valuable as some of the Ellington songbook had been written for an orchestra rather than for lyrics. Despite all this, Ella was not in top form here. Her disappointment with the situation affects her performance. She badly needed support from the orchestra, but it was unprepared and struggling with new or hastily written scores. 

The music recorded with the Duke Ellington Orchestra is best considered on a day-to-day basis. Each of the four recording days has its own ambience, based on the fraught situation brought on by the lack of preparation. 

Day 1 

This went well, thanks to two excellent scores prepared by Billy Strayhorn, although Ella does not sound completely relaxed. The day starts brilliantly with Daydream, a new arrangement by Strayhorn. He tries to capture the bizarre world of dream in the introduction with unusual harmonies, and on piano he adds some interesting free-tinkling colour. The two soloists, Fitzgerald and Hodges, are dramatically introduced by the orchestra too. The only flaw is right at the close where the orchestra seems to get lost. Another new arrangement is used for Take the A Train. Strayhorn effectively captures the railway sounds at the start, but then Ella is not able to continue the excitement, despite some scat singing as well as the lyric. A two-minute section, where the four trumpets exchange fours, heats up the music somewhat. Lush Life completes the first day. Ella sings with just Strayhorn’s piano accompaniment. She negotiates this difficult song perfectly and Strayhorn’s playing is impeccable. Listen to the way he “talks” to Ella with his piano.

Day 2

A lot of musicianship is evident, but the spirit is lacking. It sounds like there’s a mood of depression in the studio. Ella sings her heart out. She gets a lot out of Everything But You but the orchestra sounds flat. She continues well enough with I Got it Bad, aided by an impeccable Hodges solo and a fine arrangement. There’s more energy in Drop Me off in Harlem but not enough to really inspire Ella. Lost in Meditation, despite some fine arranging, drags at times. It’s the same with I Ain’t Got Nothing But the Blues, although Ella tries to put some life into it.

Day 3

This session starts off with a little more zest. Clementine bounces along but it is not really suitable for a vocal. Ella does her best, but her scatting is disappointing. The improved spirit continues with Hodges’ intro to I’m Just a Lucky So-and-so and Ella’s solo. The band is sounding better. Ella is finally relaxed enough to improvise and “go for it” with I’m Beginning to See the Light. And she excels on I Didn’t Know About You, giving everything but never getting sentimental. With Rockin’ in Rhythm the band is really swinging. It sounds more relaxed, probably because something close to the stock arrangement is being used. Ella stretches out at times, even though she is not always comfortable—probably because she had never sung this number before. 

Day 4 

All Too Soon sounds lifeless. Ella sings well and the arrangement is okay, but overall the music is flat. Soloists Gonsalves and Ray Nance don’t help here. There is some improvement with Caravan, but there could be a lot more dynamism, although Ella does a few exciting things. Bli-Blip is a fun number and should have encouraged Ella to really let go. Still, there is some life here. Ella does a great job scatting (or really oo-ing) on Chelsea Bridge. Strayhorn has provided a fine arrangement but a lack of rehearsal by the orchestra is evident. Nevertheless, Ella really captures the mood of Strayhorn’s composition. On Perdido the orchestra sounds much better, riffing behind Ella and building spirit. Gonsalves, Nance, Hamilton and Terry solo well to maintain but not increase the spirit.

Conclusion

My description of the four recording days shows how the musicians were affected by the tension brought on by the lack of preparation and the need to at least produce some acceptable music. Not only did the orchestra feel this tension but they had to play a lot of hurriedly written scores without the necessary practice. Of course the orchestra were all highly qualified musicians and did well in the circumstances, but a comparison with other recordings of the period (Anatomy of a Murder, Live at the Blue Note, even The Private Collection) will quickly show how below par the playing is here—both technically and emotionally.

In such circumstances Ella performed amazingly well. But she was clearly affected by the orchestra’s playing as well as by the tension in the studio. This recording was much more important to her than to the Ellington orchestra. Norman Granz had arranged for her to record with the best orchestra in jazz and with one of the great composers—well two really because Strayhorn was there too. She had clearly prepared thoroughly and was ready to perform at her very best. It must have taken a lot of courage for her to get through the four days.

Norman Granz, too, must have been devastated by the situation. He had negotiated a special deal to get Columbia to allow him to record Ellington. And he had invested lot of money to book the recording studio. He had every right to feel that Ellington had let him down.  

Despite its flaws, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook is fascinating. Listening to music with the knowledge of what was happening behind the scenes at the time of the recording, can provide many insights. Here it is interesting to see how a top-class jazz orchestra and a leading vocalist manage to produce good music under very difficult circumstances.

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