The second of six CDs in the Classics label's complete reissue of
Ella Fitzgerald's early recordings features the singer as a teenager with the
Chick Webb Orchestra, in addition to leading two sessions that use
Webb's sidemen and performing a pair of songs ("Big Boy Blue" and "Dedicated to You") with
the Mills Brothers. Highlights include "I Want to Be Happy," "If Dreams Come True" and her big hit, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket." Although not yet the brilliant jazz singer she would become,
Fitzgerald already had a highly appealing voice and the ability to swing on any song she was given.