Ella and Louis Again

by Alex Henderson Over the years, there have been different incarnations of Ella and Louis Again, which has been a single LP, a two-LP set, a single CD, and a two-CD audiophile set from Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. There are no compelling reasons why someone who already owns the audiophile version of Ella and Louis Again that Mobile Fidelity put out in 1995 would find this 2003 version to be an essential purchase -- Verve hasn't added any alternate takes or bonus tracks, and this double CD contains the very same selections in the very same order. Nonetheless, Verve's 2003 version is a nicely assembled reissue -- very nicely, in fact. From attractive packaging to excellent digital remastering, Verve treats Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong's 1957 duets with the respect they deserve. Verve maintains Norman Granz' original liner notes -- a wise move -- but they have also added insightful new liner notes by John Sinclair. And the performances, of course, are first-rate. Stylistically, singer Fitzgerald and trumpeter/singer Armstrong had very different histories; he started out in Dixieland before branching out into classic jazz and swing, whereas Fitzgerald started out as a swing-oriented big-band vocalist before becoming an expert bebopper. But the two of them have no problem finding common ground on Ella and Louis Again, which is primarily a collection of vocal duets (with the backing of a solid rhythm section led by pianist Oscar Peterson). One could nit-pick about the fact that Satchmo doesn't take more trumpet solos, but the artists have such a strong rapport as vocalists that the trumpet shortage is only a minor point. Seven selections find either Fitzgerald or Armstrong singing without the other, although they're together more often than not on this fine reissue.