The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

Ella and Louis is a 1956 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, accompanied by the Oscar Peterson Quartet, This was the first of three albums that they were to record together for Verve Records, later followed by 1957’s Ella and Louis Again and 1959’s Porgy and Bess. All three were released as The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve.

Norman Granz, the founder of the Verve label, selected eleven ballads for the duo, mainly played in a slow or moderate tempo. Recording began August 16, 1956, at the new, and now iconic, Capitol Studios in Hollywood, California. Though Granz produced the album, Armstrong was given final say over songs and keys. Val Valentin was the session engineer and the photography was taken by Phil Stern.

Tracklist

Side One

1. Can’t We Be Friends? (Paul James, Kay Swift) ~ 3:47
2. Isn’t This A Lovely Day? (Irving Berlin) ~ 6:16
3. Moonlight In Vermont (John Blackburn/Karl Suessdorf) ~ 3:42
4. They Can’t Take That Away From Me (George & Ira Gerrshwin) ! 4:39
5. Under A Blanket Of Blue (Jerry Livingston/Al J. Neiburg/Marty Symes) ~ 4:18
6. Tenderly(Walter Gross/Jack Lawrence) ~ 5:10

1. A Foggy Day (George & Ira Gershwin) ~ 4:32
2. Stars Fell On Alabama (Mitchelll Parish/Frank Perkins) ~ 3:34
3. Cheek To Cheek (Irving Berlin) ~ 5:53
4. The Nearness Of You (Hoagy Carmichael/Ned Washington) ~ 5:42
5. April In Paris (Vernon Duke/Yip Harburg) ~ 6:33

• Ella Fitzgerald – vocals
• Louis Armstrong – vocals, trumpet
• Oscar Peterson – piano
• Herb Ellis – guitar
• Ray Brown – bass
• Buddy Rich – drums

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