Year: 2001
Type: book-review
Abstract: Johnson, a founder of the Ella Fitzgerald Music Appreciation Society, has brought together 11 years of work (reflected in the Society's publication, Ella!) in this compilation of her recordings.By including Chick Webb's discography, annotations, and a number of varied perspectives on the recorded works, Johnson has produced this first comprehensive stand-alone discography.Section 1 lists recording session data, including specific names and instruments of orchestra members, specific locations of recording venues, master take numbers, and chart information in addition to the standard dates, record numbers, and titles.Crossreferences to section 2, citing the record releases, lead to lyricist and composer names, timings, production engineers, even liner note authors.Section 3 lists "Songs Ella Sings," with informative annotations about the songs and performances.Unreleased recordings are listed throughout.The work concludes with appendixes that serve as specialized indexes: composers and lyricists, musicians and singers, movies (with reviews), and "Suggested Compilations" (e.g., Ella Sings Broadway).The general index refers only to the introductory essays by John McDonough and Bruce Crowther.Phil Schaap's important broad-based Fitzgerald discography (p.259-324 of Stuart Nicholson's Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of the First Lady of Jazz, CH, Nov'94), and Geoffrey Mark Fidelman's First Lady of Song (1994) supplies a solid list as well, but Johnson surpasses their work with detail that includes additional recordings and session information.Valuable for all popular music collections.
Source: Choice Reviews Online
Author: Aken, Robert A.
Institution: University of Kentucky
Language: English
Topic: Music History and Culture
Subfield: Music
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W149928773