Ella Fitzgerald - The Early Years-Part 1 (1998)

This two-CD set collects Ella Fitzgerald's work with the Chick Webb Orchestra from 1935 to 1938, including the subgroup that recorded under her own name, Ella Fitzgerald and her Savoy Eight. Fitzgerald was a teenager when she began recording with Webb; the complete singer of ballads, show tunes, and scat improvisation existed only in the future. What Fitzgerald possessed was a great voice in embryo, and these CDs give listeners a chance to hear her growing in skill and confidence with each successive session. Her pitch and diction were already good, and she clearly had a unique talent for rhythmic phrasing. In fact, the novelty and rhythm songs she was usually called on to perform drew only on that aspect of her talent, songs of the first rank--then jealously guarded by music publishers and record companies--being unavailable to her. When she gets the opportunity with better material--as on "I Want to Be Happy"--she acquits herself admirably. Her hit of "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," brilliantly propelled by Webb's drumming, still sounds inspired. There were some bands of the period that were more artful, but few as singularly devoted to the principle of swing and none with a drummer more dynamic or creative than Webb. His presence drives every medium to uptempo tune in the collection. --Stuart Broomer