Ruth Leon recommends… Ella and the Duke

Ruth Leon recommends… Ella and the Duke

Uncategorized

norman lebrecht

September 24, 2023

Ella and the Duke – “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing)”
This was recorded live as part of the Ed Sullivan variety show in 1965. It never gets old. Scat, almost unknown today, was the vocalisation of music without words, often, as here, in counterpoint to the melody of the song being sung.

Here is the Queen of Scat, the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald   showing how it’s done. At the piano, who else?, Duke Ellington,  , her favourite partner. And nobody could swing better.

Read more

Comments

  • drummerman says:

    It doesn’t get any better than this! Thanks for posting.

  • Ellingtonia says:

    Ellington was a true giant of 20th century American music and Ella was just Ella, utterly peerless………https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqa5kNNaMlc

  • MOST READ TODAY: