Recorded in 1957,
Ella & Louis Again re-teams
Ella Fitzgerald and
Louis Armstrong after the success of their first album and a popular series of concerts at the Hollywood Bowl the previous year. Stylistically,
Fitzgerald and
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 & 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 nitpick 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 set. ~ Alex Henderson