Ella and Louis

Funny thing is how the taste for older things developes as one grows older. When I was sixteen, I couldn't stand jazz music. When I was twenty, I already started to like the more hard-edged fusion music, like Mahavishnu Orchestra or Miles’ electric period. But I didn’t understand mainstream jazz. At the age of thirty, I was already a huge fan of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, although not so much of bebop and swing music. Now, on the verge of turning forty, I enjoy 30’s, and 40’s jazz like I was born in those times. The Dixieland and ragtime bands still sound to me like the cartoons from my childhood, but I guess I’ll “discover” King Oliver when I turn fifty.

In my recent treat with the oldies, I listened to the “Ella & Louis” album, one of the rare records that can be described as a meeting of the giants. Both Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong (especially the later) are critical to the development of modern jazz and collaboration like this is expected to produce masterpieces. And it certainly did. With all the EQ’s, auto tuners and other digital gadgets these days, I still find it difficult to understand what today’s singers are saying in a song. But every word that comes out of Ella’s lips is clear and sweet sounding. She sings right next to you, in the living room, you can almost feel her presence. Even Armstrong with his gravelly voice is more comprehensible than Bono, for example. Their marvelous singing abilities and creativity are beyond praise, and the backing band is awesome. Well, of course, it is, it’s the Oscar Peterson Quartet with Ray Brown on double bass, Herb Ellis on the guitar and no other but Buddy Rich on drums. Their smooth playing tickles your skin in the beat of the tunes, wonderfully arranged and conducted by Buddy Bregman. Recording began August 16, 1856, at the new, and now iconic, Capitol Studios in Hollywood. Although Granz was the producer of the record, Armstrong was given final say over songs and keys. The success of Ella and Louis was replicated by “Ella and Louis Again” and “Porgy and Bess,” released in 1957 and 1959 respectively.