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Fitzgerald & Pass... Again

This is an album I owned on vinyl as a youth and was quite devoted to. It's a very nice assortment of standards and a few others less standard songs like "Tis Autumn" and "Rain."

You might question my taste, but I am fond of the song "Nature Boy" once made popular by Nat King Cole. I also like Ella singing "One Note Samba," and "Tennessee Waltz." You know how I feel about Rodgers and Hart, so I don't need to say I like her version here of "You Took Advantage of Me." There's also Duke Ellington's Solitude.

Ella's voice is not as pure as in her youth, but I think she does quite well. No serious lapses of taste. In terms of the pure emotion, I don't think she does any better on any other album. She digs deeper into the lyrics, like Billie Holiday in her later phase when her voice was practically destroyed.

The Joe Pass / Ella combo produced several other albums, which you will be hearing about soon.