Considered near the pinnacle of vocal jazz (along with Frank Sinatra's string of Capitol LPs), Ella Fitzgerald's eight Verve songbooks codified the canon of American Popular Song (uppercased) and continued to prove the best venue for learning what that phrase meant even 50 years after its genesis. (It's no wonder that the series even caused no less a figure than Ira Gershwin to amend the Constitution, so to speak, and suggest for Fitzgerald alone a few changes in the lyrics of his classics.) Despite their high pedigree, however, the songbooks are difficult to approach. Few of them shine much brighter than the others, and for a long period of the digital era they were available only in a gigantic box set or in radically altered reissues (the latter minus the remastering). That was rectified -- very gradually -- beginning in the late '90s, but The Very Best of the Song Books earns high marks because of how well it teases out the best material from the original 13 LPs. The Ella Fitzgerald version of these songs did not usually follow along with the standard versions of these fine old warhorses; her "Love for Sale" is surprisingly tender, and countless times she seems to follow a different trajectory with the notes she sings ("Where or When" is a perfect example). Meanwhile, the arrangers Buddy Bregman, Paul Weston, Nelson Riddle, and Billy May were unparalleled in their ability to spin new arrangements out of the occasional tired sheet. There's only one odd characteristic to The Very Best of the Song Books -- its length. It lasts only an hour-and-a-half, although it appears on two discs, which would allow room for more than an hour of additional music. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
Cat Anderson (Trumpet), Buddy Collette (Flute), Buddy Collette (Woodwind), Bob Cooper (Horn (English)), Bob Cooper (Oboe), Bob Cooper (Sax (Tenor)), Buddy DeFranco (Clarinet), Harry "Sweets" Edison (Trumpet), Herb Ellis (Guitar), Maynard Ferguson (Trumpet), Ella Fitzgerald (Vocals), Herb Geller (Clarinet), Herb Geller (Sax (Alto)), Dizzy Gillespie (Trumpet), Paul Gonsalves (Sax (Tenor)), Johnny Hodges (Sax (Alto)), Plas Johnson (Sax (Tenor)), Barney Kessel (Guitar), Billy May (Arranger), Billy May (Conductor), Billy May (Accompaniment), Ray Nance (Trumpet), Ted Nash (Flute), Ted Nash (Sax (Tenor)), Ted Nash (Woodwind), Bud Shank (Flute), Bud Shank (Sax (Alto)), Ben Webster (Sax (Tenor)), Pete Candoli (Trumpet), Willie Cook (Trumpet), Ronnie Lang (Sax (Alto)), Lou Levy (Piano), Ray Linn (Trumpet), Matty Matlock (Woodwind), Abe Most (Clarinet), Babe Russin (Sax (Tenor)), Babe Russin (Woodwind), Jimmy Woode (Bass), Buddy Bregman (Arranger), Buddy Bregman (Conductor), Justin Gordon (Woodwind), Corky Hale (Harp), Felix Slatkin (Concert Master), Russell Procope (Clarinet), Russell Procope (Sax (Alto)), Quentin Jackson (Trombone), Britt Woodman (Trombone), Victor Arno (Violin), John Audino (Trumpet), Israel Baker (Violin), Harold Baker (Trumpet), Frank Beach (Trumpet), Norman Benno (Oboe), Benny Carter (Sax (Alto)), Milt Bernhart (Trombone), Norman Granz (Producer), Red Callender (Tuba), Harry Carney (Clarinet), Harry Carney (Clarinet (Bass)), Harry Carney (Sax (Baritone)), John Cave (French Horn), Gene Cipriano (Woodwind), Clark Terry (Trumpet), Joe Comfort (Bass), Conrad Gozzo (Trumpet), Irving Cottler (Drums), James A. Decker (French Horn), Alvin Dinkin (Viola), Don Fagerquist (Trumpet), Duke Ellington (Piano), Walter Edelstein (Violin), Gilbert Falco (Trombone), Frank Foster (Sax (Tenor)), Jacques Gasselin (Violin), Chuck Gentry (Bassoon), Chuck Gentry (Clarinet (Bass)), Chuck Gentry (Sax (Baritone)), Chuck Gentry (Woodwind), James Getzoff (Violin), Benny Gill (Violin), Jimmy Hamilton (Clarinet), Jimmy Hamilton (Sax (Tenor)), Milt Holland (Glockenspiel), Kathyrine Julye (Harp), Armand Karpoff (Cello), Louis Kievman (Viola), Harry Klee (Flute), Harry Klee (Woodwind), Manny Klein (Trumpet), Joe Koch (Woodwind), Ray Kramer (Cello), Eddie Kusby (Trombone), Cappy Lewis (Trumpet), Dan Lube (Violin), Edgar Lustgarten (Cello), Virginia Majewski (Viola), Joe Mondragon (Bass), Vito Mangano (Trumpet), Wilfred Middlebrooks (Bass), Dick Nash (Trombone), George Neikrug (Cello), Nelson Riddle (Arranger), Nelson Riddle (Conductor), Erno Neufeld (Violin), Dick Noel (Trombone), Richard Perissi (French Horn), George Price (French Horn), Jimmy Priddy (Trombone), Lou Raderman (Violin), Emil Radocchia (Percussion), Bill Richmond (Drums), George Roberts (Trombone (Bass)), Paul Robyn (Viola), Nathan Ross (Violin), Mischa Russell (Concert Master), John Sanders (Trombone (Valve)), Wilbur Schwartz (Woodwind), George Seaberg (Trumpet), Richard Seidel (Sequencing), Richard Seidel (Selection), Tommy Shepard (Trombone), Shorty Sherock (Trumpet), Paul Shure (Violin), Stuff Smith (Violin), Marshall Sosson (Violin), David Sterkin (Viola), Alvin Stoller (Drums), Billy Strayhorn (Arranger), Fred Stulce (Woodwind), Juan Tizol (Trombone (Valve)), Joe Triscari (Trumpet), Lloyd Ulyate (Trombone), Gerald Vinci (Violin), Champ Webb (Woodwind), Paul Weston (Arranger), Paul Weston (Conductor), Sam Woodyard (Drums), Vincent DeRosa (French Horn), Alex Beller (Violin), William Hinshaw (French Horn), Eleanor Slatkin (Cello), Victor Bay (Violin), James Gavin (Liner Notes), Stanley Harris (Viola), Murray Kellner (Violin), Kurt Reher (Cello), Eudice Shapiro (Violin), Barbara Simons (Viola), Lloyd W. Hildebrand (Bassoon), Arnold Koblentz (Oboe), Joseph Livoti (Violin), Karl de Karske (Trombone (Bass)), Dale McMickle (Trumpet), Joe Stepansky (Violin), Bob Irwin (Mastering), Duke Ellington & His Orchestra (Accompaniment), Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra (Accompaniment), Paul Weston & His Orchestra (Accompaniment), Frank Emilio Flynn (Percussion), Frank Emilio Flynn (Drums), Carroll Lewis (Trumpet), Howard Terry (Bassoon), Isabelle Wong (Design), Sidney Sharp (Violin), Tommy Pederson (Trombone), Hollis King (Art Direction), Joe Howard (Trombone), Maurice Stein (Sax (Alto)), James Arkatov (Cello), Veryle Brilhart (Harp), Elizabeth Greenschpoon (Cello), Jule Kinzler (Flute), Seymour Schoneberg (Oboe), Alex Neimann (Viola), William Schaefer (Trombone), Bryan Koniarz (Supervisor), William Smith (Woodwind), Jim Salvati (Illustrations), Buddy Bregman & Orchestra (Accompaniment), Robert LaMarchina (Cello), Robert Bain (Guitar), Jayme Pieruzzi (Mastering), Paul "Scooby" Smith (Piano), Paul "Scooby" Smith (Arranger), John McClanian Best Jr. (Trumpet), Henry Hill (Violin), George Clinton Smith (Clarinet), Sarah Huo (Project Assistant)
