Reviews (page 5 of 14)
3 hours? No thank you. I listened to only about 40 minutes of this. I don't got time for that. That said, this vocal performance is sublime. The jazzy backing is nice, definitely well performed and does more than just be there to have something to sing over. It is engaging on it's own and even takes over in some spots to become featured and impressive. But regardless of that, this record is all about Ella and how talented she is, which is very. Her range and dynamic use of tone is gorgeous. She has power, softness, sass, and grit all dialed in and uses them all at just the right times. It really is some beautiful music. Great, stunning, and yet horrendously long - which has to factor in when I'm comparing it to the history of the best albums, the greatest of which are all designed to be a singular uninterrupted experience. Even most of the rest are at least that. This isn't something you can put on and realistically take in with very much intent front to back. There's 2 hours too much of it to do that. I wish I could give this a better rating, because usually jazz doesn't do much for me, but this is different and I enjoy it. It boils down to this: it's really good *music* but not a very good *album*. 3.0/5
good background
Achei superinteressante. Entrou na lista perpétua
In the context of music history this album fascinates me but I can’t make it through 3.5 hours of jazz tunes. The gap between this and Wish You Were Here less than 20 years later is bonkers.
Classic and lovely
Better than coldplay
Ja leuk, heb alleen cd 1 geluisterd omdat het me anders wat te veel werd maar heb me wel vermaakt
i don't know who george and ira gershwin are, nor the existence of this so-called songbook but i must say the songs do suit ms. fitzgerald perfectly. coming into this i knew it was gonna be jazz and blues-centered, but the performances in this one feel more light and cinematic. think "holidays" and a "slice of life" montage. i like the stories the songs tell; i see vivid images and flashes of certain scenarios being described and crooned. it feels like i am living through the lyrics, enjoying the tale, and getting lost in the instruments and the yearning croons of miss ella. this album needs to be listened at a specific time and mood; perfect for domestic activities, daydreaming sessions, or moments when you just want to procrastinate instead of doing your responsibilities like an adult (which may or may not mirror my current situation as i am writing this). ella, i will always be your fan and i will never get sick of hearing your golden voice. the album might've started slow, and some songs do sound a bit too similar and repetitive, but it was still a treat!
I enjoyed this but it took me a couple of days due to the number of the songs. Atmospheric and cosy.
I gave this a 5 because I listened to it over the course of 5 days. Trying to listen to this in one sitting would have dropped the score to a 3.The album is way too long for that.
It was quite good. Ella Fitzgerald sounds like an angel, but its a little long for me personally
Listened to this after a nice group dinner on a stormy night in Almeria, which was quite an event. The vibe is: winter night, warm inside, low light, glass of red wine, cooking a pasta dinner while listening to it on vinyl!
Great voice, but derivative songwriting and entirely too long
love you, ella but way too long lol.
I mean, in the end, the higher you'd rate an album would be highly correlated with your likelihood of listening to it, right? You'd not rate something a 5 if you'd never listen to it again, and while that's a sort of black and white/binary example, it stands to reason that you would rate things on appreciation and listenability. Ella is incredible on this collection. Ella always is. One of my favorites. However, the likelihood I'd have reason to listen to over three hours of this? Pretty unlikely. Maybe for some chill background music at a dinner party or something but never in any given moment. This is just... too much. Six albums worth of material. Three hours, fifteen minutes worth of music. It's unwieldy, like trying to fit a table into a room too small to comfortably sit people. The recordings are beautiful. But I don't think a three hour set of Ella (or any artist/act) is necessary -- or appropriate -- for any list such as this. So many other representative options are available.
I saw a future life with a wife I don’t have. 10/10
Are you insane??? 3hhh???? I didn’t listen the whole album - only the 1 and 2 track Its giving me the 101 dalmatians vibe
las letras de sus canciones eran preciosas
As a massive listen this was incredibly daunting, but treating the discs like chapters kinda helped. The Nelson Riddle arrangements all sound great, but I would be lying if I didn’t admit that they did get rather repetitive by the end. However Ellas voice does not get old, and is incredible all the way through. I enjoyed the lyrics and thought they were actually very sharp and clever. This album did land with me however due to the sheer size of it, I can’t see myself returning.
She is amazing, not fussed about Gershwin, moved onto her Miles album instead
Look jazzy ashell omg its a VIBEEEEE
Wow. Bold move by the creators of this list to put an entire 3.25 hour box set on here. She's got an otherworldly voice, however, and she made it worthwhile. Who the hell is Nelson Riddle?
Theres no doubt Ella Fitzgerald is an incredible singer but calling this one album feels like cheating It's 4 hours of music and its herculean to listen to even once in a day without becoming very samey
It was so many songs! Lots of variations on a theme. I thought some of them were very funny, and her talent as a vocalist really stands out
ts was genuinely way too long, she doesnt even sing on the last disc. overall still rlly liked it tho
She has an amazing voice, but this was a lot of Gershwin.
This must not be treated as an album, but as a playlist. As an hearing experience its a safe bet, its not an album to come back very often or that i will keep at the top of my mind, but overall its an enjoyable experience.
7.6 (3 hours is to much, even tho she has a great voice)
My drive to work on Friday, my drive home from work on Friday, my drive to my kids' swimming lesson on Friday night, my drive home from my kids' swimming lesson on Friday, my drive to Tesco on Saturday morning, my shopping around Tesco, my cooking of lunch on Saturday, my washing the dishes after lunch on Saturday, half of the prep of sausage casserole for the Saturday evening's dinner. Not sure how this album is supposed to be experienced. It started strongly and then just became a blend of neverending sameness, which is unavoidable. 59 straight songs in one genre/from one artist is more than enough even if you're an avid fan. Obviously, beautiful lyrics, amazing voice, quite the labour of love to have made it, but exhausting.
59 "American standards" performed by a jazz singer and a jazz band is incredibly mean to me in particular.
Me sorprende haber escuchado Jazz viniendo de la electronica JAJA. Es un género que no me interesaba en lo absoluto pero me enamore a la primera escucha
Such kind of music made me think that all jazz is like that and I was hating it for a long time. Soulless “white” music pieces
Finding time to listen to a new album a day is difficult, finding time to listen critically to a 3+ hour album is impossible. So I’m reviewing based on disc 1. Sorry. Overall, I enjoyed this a lot. Will be played as background music while cooking or hosting a dinner party. Beautiful voice. Songwriting is hit or miss. Instrumentation is dated, but that was expected. Can’t give more than 3 stars because of length and the artist do not write any of it.
She is amazing. Her voice, how she conveys meaning in these songs...it's stunning. The band is great. The song choice varied and interesting (which you get when you cover 59 songs!). The sound quality was superb. Doing one of these a day, I admit to not being able to pay attention to all 59, but as I was able to listen attentively, I was well rewarded.
-It's hard for me not to think of Kind of Blue, which was recorded the same year. In that context, where jazz was at the end of the 1950s, this is quite a conservative, throw-back kind of project. I was able to connect with a handful of the songs either because of their cleverness (e.g. "Who Cares") or their moodiness (e.g. "A Foggy Day"), but most of these tracks did not set me on fire. Nevertheless, major respect to Ella and the Gershwins for their place in jazz history. -I didn't mind the length so much. It gave me a good excuse to plunge the depths of the Gershwin catalogue and listen to a lot of Ella Fitzgerald, something I basically never do. And, to be honest, the length of the catalogue started to win me over a bit. That being said, you can't put this many songs in a collection and expect them all to be winners. Some of these are miniature pieces of pop perfection, some are total shlock novelty songs. And as the great Spinal Tap said, it's a fine line between stupid and clever. -It's probably a character flaw in me, but I do not enjoy scatting. -The orchestral arrangements throughout are surprisingly square. The instrumental tracks without Ella are painfully schmaltzy.
I only listened to Disc 1 because I simply can’t commit to 3 hours and 14 minutes of any album. Ella’s voice is absolutely magnificent and if this wasn’t an active listening experience, I would have no issues at all having this on for a whole afternoon of relaxing. Best Track: But Not For Me
I'm not really sure a compilation of a whole musical catalog should really qualify as an album, but whatever I guess
I just don’t think there’s a better pairing than Fitz and Gershwin.
My heart goes out to the wonderfully talented Ella Fitzgerald for having to sing four entire discs of this absolute shite. I couldn't even make it through the first one. It's listenable enough as background music but the sheer scale of this collection works against it: I cannot concieve of why you'd want three plus hours of showtunes.
Would be 4 star if 10 songs
I don’t understand the purpose of including this kind of thing in the list. It’s not an album and the selection criteria are obscure. If you want jazz or classical, there are thousands of albums worthy of consideration, having just the odd one or two is pointless. By this stage, Ella Fitzgerald songs is music you hear on soundtracks or in the background. I would never put this on and listen to it, despite recognizing its qualities. Its time has passed.
Great voice! I was expecting this to be a slog because of the length, but it has decent variety and lovely arrangements
Very beautiful, sounds like Christmas. Kind of repetitive, but never bad. Loved The Real American Folk Song.
It has the melodies of a lullaby but the lyrics are conventional yet Broadway like.
i find it so beautiful when a musician will dedicate so much tome into studying and performing a "mentor's" work. my college violin teacher did this with bach and it was one of the best recitals i've attended in my undergrad. with projects like this, it's easy to get lost, but ella's individuality shines through. favorites: let's call the whole thing off; things are looking up
Quand même impressionnant pour du AI
Ella’s voice is flawless - I have no complaints there! But this is too much and not at all an album anyone _needs_ to hear. I hear there’s a shorter version with ”highlights”, which might be great. But I’m reviewing the whole 3+ hour thing here… I have better things to do (and listen to).
but not for me 1959 united states jazz
She’s so cinderella but i only got through disc 1
Yes, I listened to all of it. Ella Fitzgerald is one of my favorite vocalists of all time, her iconic voice covering pretty much every Jazz song you've ever heard of at some point throughout her career. About a quarter of them are on this record alone, with the Gershwins writing an absolutely massive list of standards. This is less of an album and more a compilation, so I won't dock any points for it being "too long." That being said, once you've heard an hour of this record, you've pretty much heard it all. Obviously there are some great hits on this record, but Ella's renditions are not my favorite recordings for almost all of these tracks. There are some exceptions, Let's Call the Whole Thing Off and Sam and Delilah probably being my favorites. Unfortunately, the majority of these tracks are unremarkable, with the big band arrangements blurring into each other. Some tracks like Someone to Watch Over Me play around with the format a bit and create hauntingly beautiful atmospheres that compliment the tenderness in Ella's voice so much better. I think this record is great for background atmosphere, but doesn't really work in a traditional album format. If you're a huge jazz nerd, there's some A-tier renditions of countless standards and hours of amazing Ella Fitzgerald vocal performances. Otherwise, this is just an archival of the works of some of the most prolific songwriters of the early 20th century, designed to be a reference and not really a complete experience.
4 - BAD
It was good to hear all these standards sung by her, but I did not need ALL of them all at once. Three hours is a little much.
three discs is too many discs.
Meh
I found this album to be very smoothing and relaxing. It goes along really well as background noise when I am working as well. I anticipate returning to the album every now and then and the cover art was also delightful.
Very long but very comfy album.
Дуже класний джазовий альбом. З вайбом легкої весняно-літньої романтики
Obviously Ella is iconic and wonderful and many of these songs are stone cold classics. All the same, three hours of this vibe gets a bit samey.
Classy. Her voice is fabulous and some tracks show this off beautifully. Some songs are less good and don't do her voice justice.
This was the first album generated for me on this site, and I had mixed emotions getting it again. On one hand, it’s a fabulous collection, with timeless songs by George and Ira Gershwin, beautifully sung by Ella Fitzgerald. On the other hand, I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about returning to a three-hour-long album, especially after hearing it in full just over a month ago. In the end, I only revisited the tracks I’d saved from my first listen, and even that amounted to over an hour of music! That alone speaks volumes about this album’s quality, even if I wasn’t quite ready for the full marathon this time around.
this album, from what I heard it is a very soothing and relaxing album, however I cannot bring myself to listen to the entirety of the whole album (it being a 70 track 4 hr long Lp).
Colossal!
Long, good songs, good singin', good playin'
Classic and romantic. Incredible voice.
Too long. but Ella Fitzgerald is a gem
I opted for the shorter 'best of' because there was no way I was making it through three hours. I enjoyed the songs, but I grew a little tired of it by the end... and this wasn't even the long version. I think point knock for the length, point knock for being a little dull. But Ella, I love you, just in smaller doses, and perhaps a different era of Ella.
GOING IN: Quite hopeful LISTENED WHILE: having morning coffee FAMILIARITY: Know a few songs SKIP RATE: Gave up entirely REPLAY VALUE: Might come back to it DISCOVERY CURVE: Slow burner this one ALBUM ARC: Pretty even, consistent VERDICT: Fair enough BODY'S VERDICT: Sitting nicely - Motionless appreciation FAVOURITE TRACK: My Rating: 2 She doesn't start singing until track 3. Up until then it's all a bit Tom & Jerry.
I have to admit that I made it through 2 and a half discs of this and bailed. I don’t know whether this was a special edition, but 6 discs and a runtime of over 3 hours is not conducive to anyone who has a job/life. The music is pleasant enough but over that time becomes very repetitive. I am giving the mark on the basis of the songs as individual tracks rather than an album as it doesn’t really function as an album.
Has that classic sound that sounds a bit old hat now. I’m not particularly fond of any of the songwriting at all, but Fitzgerald’s voice is absolutely stellar here - I’m not sure it’s enough to save it completely though. Songs like ‘let’s call the whole thing off’ and ‘s’wonderful’ have stood the test of time but I don’t particularly enjoy, likely because they are a bit close to musical theatre. Much prefer Fitzgerald when singing anything other than Gershwin I’m afraid.
What can I say this album is really good. It actually really long with 59 songs divided in 6 discs. The trombettes are really comforting, not to talk the voice of Ella. It is actually for me a backround music doesent really make me dance or something but it is jazz so it gives chill vibes and it brings me in good humor. Great for doing something in the mean time. The songs have good sounds. Yes just amazing work really comforting and easy album.
Part of me thinks “girl don’t give this five stars. This is cheating. You can’t call this an album, it’s basically a box set anthology”. The other part thinks “ this music is gorgeous. Over three hours and you never hated listening to it. In fact most of the time you were tapping your toes or swaying your head. Gorgeous voice, lush arrangements, snappy lyrics. Don’t be a hater. This is top level.” So, even though I feel a tiny bit manipulated, it’s in the best possible way. Cheers!
I'm not sure this is really intended to be listened to as one album, because it sounded great but was way, way too much whimsical wordplay for a single sitting
3.8/5
Not bad by any means. I was able to make it thru the entirely of this album. It is good background music and great vocals, but is simply too long (obviously) but this is not supposed to be listened to in one sitting anyway 3/5
Crazy. Didn't get a full listen to each track, but what a legend. Long ass album, great to have on in the clinic.
Nice
Listened 1/5/2026.
Trust Ella Fitzgerald's vocal tone to wrap you in a bundle of warm drinks and cold cozy nights
8/10. Lovely smooth listening jazz-soul album
Obviously her voice is beautiful, she’s a legend. Got a bit monotonous as every single song was about a man or wanting a man.
Genuinely a beautiful album to listen to. As a big Shirley Bassey fan, I particularly enjoyed it, especially because the singing style is very similar. Of course a three hour long album can get a bit boring to listen to, like everything in this genre. I really liked it, especially in the background to create a nice atmosphere
5/5 mostly because her music is a def. change of pace. I felt like I was in a disney movie in a good way.
5 discos, 5 freaking good times. Immediately YES, first minute, first second, hell yeah Ella. Different vibes, emotions and atmospheres. No need to talk about her voice, enchanting and incredibly enveloping, warm, accurate and precise. To play at a fancy Christmas party. I had to listen to it at different times and days, cause all at once would have confused me. Maybe I'm not used to so much jazz so I can't listen to it for too long. After a while it becomes too much and drives me insane.
Waaaay too long lol.
I see people protesting and complaining in reviews that this does not belong in a book like 1001 albums. Get. Over. Yourself! Yes, it's huge and long but hell, it's a single album recorded coherently and originally released as a single album (although what the Nelson Riddle band tracks are doing at the start is a small question). It's also brilliant.
Fantastic voice, amazing music, very long
This has to be the final boss of Jazz albums for people who don’t love Jazz albums. 3 hours and 14 minutes long?? Be real. I’m honor bound and determined to listen to every album in the book front to back at least once, as well as pick a favorite song from each album, but this one is really going to try my patience. Those were my initial thoughts upon, mouth agape, seeing what I rolled this morning. What follows for the remainder of the review is post listen. I like Ella Fitzgerald, and I don’t even dislike The Gershwin Songbook by Ella Fitzgerald, but whoever included this album in the book had to have been trolling. You can’t seriously tell me I had to listen to this before I die, rather than something shorter and more focused by the same artist. Despite that, here I am, victorious, one entire listen-through later. The final disc is also just instrumental stuff with no Ella vocals, really unnecessary to include that at all, but I sure did listen to it anyway. It took me one whole work shift and the drive home to get through this one completely, which doesn’t say a lot about the album other than the length is just outrageous, and I had to pause it a lot to focus on important stuff. Generally I’m always going to listen to an album multiple times front to back to really form an opinion on it, and pick a favorite for the playlist as previously mentioned. Soak it all in, get to know and understand it better. You feel me?? This time, however, I’m just thankful to escape listening to it in full at all. Nothing of note stood out here, and if it did, I probably listened to it 6 hours ago. That being said, I really do like Ella’s voice, and admittedly I never felt like I was just praying for the album to end. As far as Jazz goes, this was alright. I’d be being disingenuous if I gave it a 2 just because of how long it was. Hyper-analyzing the album is going to be impossible unfortunately, as I was only able to listen to this one once. Would have been better as a weekend album so I could spend more time with it. Regardless, I wouldn’t come back to it anyway given the extra time. Jazz is Jazz, and this was very much tolerable, but not spectacular by any sense of the word. I’ll go with “Soon” as my favorite. Why?? I kind of remember how that one went, which is good enough for me. For Jazz lovers I think this one is going to be a must. It’s super long, has a singer with a beautiful voice, and it’s endlessly re-playable. For the rest of us, it exists somewhere between just alright and ok. It’s more Jazz, and the book has plenty of it. I wish it was about 2 and a half hours shorter, but for what it is, it’s not terrible. I’ll consider that a win and move on the the next challenge. Is this the longest album in the book?? It has to be, right??
Great music for doing crossword puzzles! (ugh i sound like my father). Good ole jazz. Wouldn't listen front to back like this ever again. Top: 'S Wonderful Not Top: Lorelei
Not my type of music. Maybe it it was the 50's
Truly marvelous
Quite amazed by it, awesome for relaxing and mood boost.
moy buenooo la amo
beautiful
Beautiful vocals, engaging and nice but I don't know if there is much in terms of repeat value for me.
Ella Fitzgerald is a fine singer but nobody, absolutely nobody, needs three and a half hours of this “you say tomayto I say tomahto” dogshit. I didn’t finish listening to this because I would rather do literally anything else.
This was pretty good jazz. Not a genre i typically like but very good imo
Jazz, like jazz.
very traditional nice jazz
greatttt!
What a timeless voice.
standouts: begginers luck, just another rhumba, sam and delilah
Disc 1 - 3/5 Sam And Delilah - 3/5 But Not For Me - 3.5/5 My One And Only - 3/5 Let's Call The Whole Thing Off - 3.5/5 (I've Got) Beginner's Luck - 4/5 Oh, Lady Be Good - 3/5 Nice Work If You Can Get It - 3.5/5 Things Are Looking Up - 4/5 Just Another Rhumba - 4.5/5 How Long Has This Been Going On? - 3/5 Disc 2 - 3.5/5 'S Wonderful - 3.5/5 The Man I Love - 3/5 That Certain Feeling - 3/5 By Stauss - 4/5 Someone To Watch Over Me - 3/5 The Real American Folk Song - 4.5/5 Who Cares? - 3.5/5 Looking For A Boy - 3/5 They All Laughed - 3/5 My Cousin In Milwaukee - 3/5 Somebody From Somewhere - 3.5/5 Disc 3 - 3/5 A Foggy Day - 3/5 Clap Yo' Hands - 3/5 For You For Me For Evermore - 3/5 Stiff Upper Lip - 3/5 Boy Wanted - 3.5/5 Strike Up The Band - 4/5 Soon - 3/5 I've Got A Crush On You - 3/5 Bidin' My Time - 3.5/5 Aren't You Kind Of Glad We Did? - 3/5 Of Thee I Sing - 3/5 Disc 4 - 4/5 The Half Of It Dearie Blues - 3/5 I Was Doing All Right - 4/5 He Loves And She Loves - 4/5 Love Is Sweeping The Country - 3.5/5 Treat Me Rough - 3.5/5 Love Is Here To Stay -3/5 Slap That Bass - 3/5 Isn't It A Pity - 3/5 Shall We Dance - 3.5/5 Love Walked In - 3/5 You've Got What Gets Me - 3.5/5 Disc 5 - 3/5 They Can't Take That Away From Me - 3/5 Embraceable You - 2.5/5 I Can't Be Bothered Now - 3/5 Boy What Love Has Done To Me - 3.5/5 Fascinating Rhythm - 3.5/5 Funny Face - 3/5 Lorelei - 3/5 Oh So Nice - 3/5 Let's Kiss And Make Up - 3.5/5 I Got Rhythm - 3/5 Disc 6 - 2/5 (No Ella Fitzgerald) Promenade (Walking The Dog) - 2.5/5 March Of the Swiss Soldiers - 2.5/5 Fidgety Feet - 2/5 Prelude I - 2/5 Prelude II - 2/5 Prelude III - 2/5
3.5
Una delicia, escuchar su voz, y el cancionero de Gershwing. Una de las joyas de la corona: Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Complete American Songbook. «Nunca supe lo buenas que eran nuestras canciones hasta que las escuché cantar a Ella Fitzgerald» George Gershwin. Precisamente su debut fue Ella sings Gershwing que incluye temas como My one and only o Someone To Watch Over Me aunque con diferente instrumentación y arreglos a los de este album. Imprescindible
love her but in the big picture i’ve got to put other albums higher (for now at least!!)
It’s Ella and the Gershwins and Nelson Riddle, so quality is guaranteed. Not so sold on the songbook idea though, I prefer it to be mixed up a bit. Would love her to cut loose a bit, it’s all a bit safe. Perhaps that’s the point. Gave the usual second listen a miss
Liked it
This album reminded me of white christmas and sound of music, probably because it was made in the same era. overall it was good but i don’t think i would go out of my way to add it to any playlists.
Incredible voice, and the songs are catchy enough. 3hrs+ is a slog, I was happy to hit shuffle until I'd had my fill. Fave tracks: Pick any 3 tracks at random
Beautiful voice
Good album. Kind of long and there’s some filler but great stuff too
It was good
Timeless classic. Beautiful voices, masterful arrangements. A bit too long.
objectively great but the length is brutal
Well that’s an experience. I was going to criticize the inclusion of this for being a compilation, but it looks like it l was intended as a single new release, with the songs recorded newly for the album. Fitzgerald is obviously a master vocalist, and the songs are polished as can be. So you can’t knock it, but I’m not going to lie and act like this didn’t get wildly monotonous. I respect it, but I don’t plan on returning to it.
Holy fuck three hours?? Ella Fitzgerald what do we have in store here?? I like this, it's very dancing in the kitchen vibes, a lot of these albums for. Her voice is stunning. I want to close my eyes and sway to this. Listen idk who George and Ira are but they cooked. Holy shit that took so long but it was very good. Favourite: But Not For Me Least favourite: Clap Yo' Hands
Oh no another recording with more than 2 albums worth. It does make me wonder if multiple album proejcts should have their own category. Likely not going to be able to listen to this whole thing in a day but in order to keep this project going I’ll listen to as much as I can and edit these notes once I get through it all in the next few days. Should be fun though as Ella is a great vocalist. Alright I’m getting through it now and wow these are some great songs! I appreciate the work that went into all the arrangements. There’s an epic, show-tune kinda vibe here which is possible so it would be good to know the context of some of these lyrics. Would be fun to karaoke these but it would take a bit of work for sure to get it to Ella’s level!
This is #day506 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… that was a whole lot of Ella Fitzgerald for one sitting, I must admit. The music feels kind of right for these post-Christmas days. I gave up on "Love Is Here To Stay," though. This is a 3 out of 5. Looking forward to #day507.
This album is easily a perfect 5/5. The vast majority of these reviews here complain about the length, which while fair (3 hours is a long time), it is easily fixable. Just listen to the album over a period of days. I listened to one disc a day and on day 5 listened to discs 5 and 6. It was an enjoyable experience. This list isnt a race. There was not a single bad song on this recording.
Nobody else does it quite like this…
-/10
Favorite track(s): LP 1: But Not For Me, Nice Work If You Can Get It LP 2: The Man I Love LP 3: For You, for Me, for Evermore, Of Thee I Sing (Baby) LP 4: Slap That Bass, Love Walked In LP 5: Embraceable You What are they doing putting boxsets on this list?
I mean… it’s Gershwin and Fitzgerald
This album serves as a reminder that Ella Fitzgerald is one of the most talented singers to ever live. That being said, I can’t see most wanting to listen to 6 discs, 59 songs, and 3 hours of this.
One star for each hour of music. I am disappointed that this album held back so much.
A lot of high quality songs with a great vocal performance. The last disc therefore is a bit lacking without the good songwriting and vocals. Rating this not as an album to sit through in one go, but as a compilation of works, it is quite good.
The same song 59 times. That is all
Absolutely adore Ella Fitzgerald
Well thanks for my job, I'm doing a 12 hours shift today, I'm editing so this can play in the background while I work, and wait for more work and wait so I can go home and not work. I'm saying this because, looking at the 59 songs making this record and looking at the running time, this is probably about 2h30! **it's more than 3hours actually It's very appropriate for a december 23rd. There's something Chrismasty about this. Let's Call The Whole Thing Off is charming, reminds me of the Nina Simone song love me or leave me (I think that's the one I'm thinking off(a much better Well it's about 5pm now, I haven't finished the first "CD" yet. Busier than I thought, but I'm at work until 1am, who knows if I can finish this today haha It's 8:51 and I'm in the middle of disc 5 9:35 I've made it! This was a pretty good soundtrack to the night, it's obvioulsy not meant to be absorb in the same way as you would any album. You'd have this on during a dinner with friends and, you know, the lenght wouldn't matter. Fav (I think??): But not for me Let's call the whole thing off just another rhumba The man I love Somebody from somewhere
Amazing melodies and a voice that is one of a kind.
Never been into this type of albums before. Super oldie, super fun, the first song hooked me. But the amount of songs in there scares me lol
The songs tended to blend together after a while, but I did like it! She has an amazing voice.
2
While there are a handful of wonderful interpretations there’s also loads of cornball American big bad schmaltz that I have little time for. Real mixed bag.
I listened to "The very best" edition. I can't fault the performance, the composition or the recording. They're all 5/5. The problem is the intent: This is smooth, predictable music meant to sit comfortably in the background while you sip a cocktail & engaged in a lively chat. Being touched, roused, startled or challenged by the music is not the priority. The music delivers that, but by doing so, it passes right by me: The core of what I look for in music is absent. The craftsmanship is undeniable, and I never felt I had to endure the listen. But the lack of emotional pull, combined with having no real occasion in my life for this kind of music, means I won’t be returning to it. The listening is so easy, I sometimes forgot it was there.
Great instrumentals, iconic. Ella’s voice is great but I found her style and the lyrics kind of annoying.
There are only so many variations of “Potato, potato” we can handle. That aside, she has a magical voice.
I got so far as to potato >< potato and then I couldnt anymore...
Wonderful! Love the juxtaposition between the soft and smooth sound and the occasionally hard topics.
10/10. The voice is perfect. The composition is perfect. The arrangements are perfect. It's over 3 hours long and I will regret not a second of it.
9/10 Favorites: Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off Strike Up The Band Treat Me Rough Lorelei
Ok, so... On one hand, Ella is a beautiful singer and what a major music milestone to have her collaborate so extensively with the Gershwin brothers outside of the skat style shes known for. On the other hand this was such a goddamn slog to get through. Most of the songs sounded similar and the vast, vast majority were love songs (and not in a fun, tongue in cheek way like 69 love songs). And I won't be listening to all of the alternative takes on disk 4, which might be the first time 700 albums into this I'm not ~technically listening to the whole album? The thing is, what i value in albums is a story and a point of view. I enjoy when the songs are meticulously created and placed in a specific order, specifically: 1)the openers and closers act as strong bookends that make sense, 2) there is variety in the track list with extra points for a few interludes, 3) there is a cohesive sound and "vibe" that elevates the tracklist from just being a collection of songs 4) the album art acts as the ~environment by which you can imagine the music in, 5) the artist is practicing at the top on their skillset and I can see a genuine picture of who they are or what they're trying to say, 6) there are some experimental moments that make the record stand out amongst its contemporaries at the time. A record doesn't need all of these to be great, but again they are traits I personally value. This one didn't scratch that itch. It was a large anthology of works from very talented musicians, but I would have preferred an album with more personality and diluted to the strongest moments. "Beginners Luck" is a goddamn bop, though. 2.4/5 -> 2/5
Are you joking? I'm not going to listen to 3 fucking hours of jazz standards. Jog on.
I just can’t do it - the majority of songs except two I find draggy and torturous.
De verdad es tan largo? 6/5
It's a bit ridiculous to put such a long box set on this list, but it is fantastic. Her vocal performances are just phenomenal and the big band backing music is smooth and easy to listen to. It's a bit samey but I could put this on as background music and enjoy it for hours.
Ok lah not bad but not smth id listen to like dont get me wrong its a good album but its defo smth not up my alley idk if its bc of the genre/its just this album but idk it just doesnt hit me 6.5/10?
Very soothing. Very jazzy. Ella Fitzgerald knows how to sing a ditty and I love her for it.
Nicht durchgehört, dass ging fast 5 stunden. insgesamt sehr ähnlich alles und ich habs nicht so genossen. Aber natürlich eine schöne stimme.
my queen. my goddess. I could listen to her sweet voice forever.
Don’t care how good Ella Fitzgerald is, this is way too long for the casual listener.
The best
Outside of opera, Ella has the best voice of all-time and the combination of her flawless vocals with great instrumentation almost makes up for the corny lyrics and enormous album length (well over 3 hours). Unfortunately, I can't give 5 stars to an album that simply doesn't fit the brief of "album", which makes me wonder why this one is even on the list. It's a collection of songs that is not intended to be listened to in one setting. If they'd just picked a shorter Ella album it would easily be in the running for top ten album on this list. 4.0/5.0: Great
this one is a struggle to rate. on one hand you have great songs performed by a generational talent. on the other hand you have a collection of songs not really meant to be listened to consecutively as an album. the format makes what should be an easy 5 an incredibly tough listen. do yourself a favor an break this up into smaller chunks and it will be a much more enjoyable listen.
Cozy music, not really doing it for me though. Could be suitable on some occasions, maybe when playing boardgames or cooking maybe? Something to have in the background.
Too long and songs sound pretty similar but I liked it
So nice to listen but dang this is a lot of songs
too many songs to get through all of them, but i want a CD/record version of this
Альбом номер сто. С одной стороны, я люблю джаз, я уважаю джаз и Элла Фитцжеральд отлично поет, просто замечательно. С другой стороны, три мать его часа. Я думал я сойду с ума. Я не могу больше его слушать...
Damn that’s a long ass album. Luckily I had some lines to wait in in Disney world so I got through the over 3 fucking hours of jazz and show tunes. Jeez. The like show tunes vibe of a some of the songs ain’t really my vibe but I will so in general it’s a good album just not for me. Pretty impressive she can come up with this many songs I guess. Also their is 3 preludes but not one overture on here so weird.
Four hours of perfection.
I remember this one from another 1001 and that it was quite enjoyable
Pretty nice album - solid voice, nice accompanying music. It's obvious Ella Fitzgerald's voice is the thing being put forward on this album. It's nice background music, but I don't know how much I'd want to actively listen to this.
this feels like a girl in primary school, picking up a flower and chanting he loves me, he loves me not
Vibe chill mais pas trop ma came. Ambiance vieux Disney/soirée apéro jazz. Par moment j'avais l'impression d'entendre des mélodies de chants de Noël.
Top ! Quelle voix ! C’est bien en petite musique d’ambiance, en fond
J'aime beaucoup Ella Fitzgerald, en plus là petite ambiance de Noël c'était parfait pour une matinée de télétravail 5/5
She has a beautiful voice, but I’m not into jazz enough to listen to it for 3 hours.
This album is a collection of beautiful songs that are impaired by the egregiously long run time. Three stars. (Favorite track: Let's Call The Whole Thing Off.)
was hoping to get this on a weekend. or really any day not involving a transatlantic flight. but whatever. Ella Fitzgerald put out a few albums with this premise, and this is the longest of the bunch. i guess i can understand the argument that this could do to be edited a bit but the encyclopedic nature is a strong point imo. she's a phenomenal singer and can elevate even the lamest song written by the (generally really great at writing) Gershwins. split it up into discs and it won't get old. deserves to be one of the 1001? yes. and it deserves to be spread out over a few days but this project isn’t quite flexible with that. and give her another album for good measure.
If i wasnt made to listen to it all in one day i would have enjoyed it way more. 6 hours no skips great album.
This is a box set? Ain't got no time for this.
Will return to this. Has some very fun musical numbers.
Quite pleasant and by all means not "bad" BUT when it comes to the album experience, it's just far too long to rate it highly.
I love music from this time period and the album has a lot of gems. Overall it is quite long but the instrumentals are gorgeous and there are so many stories packed into it
An ambitious and successful project to record a huge amount of music by the Gershwins and Fitzgerald in one enormous set, and the quality, skill, and effort put into it truly shows. The production quality is unlike anything I've heard from this time period in its clarity and balance, perfectly underscoring Fitzgerald's consistently perfect vocals.
delightful but four discs are too long
Wow. Lovely record of talent across generations with both lyrics and voice. She did a number of these songbooks over a 5 year period all equally as long, hopefully not all on the 1001 list.
Ella is one of the greatest singers and she makes every song feel so natural, this honestly has no bad songs and it feels shorter than it is - however it is simply way too long, this could be an all-timer LP or double album and this could have been a collectors edition for the true fans.
Personal note: I like how I hit on the thing “Yes I want to listen to albums on the weekend” just for them to give me a 6 disc, 3 + hour record to listen to. Review: The Gershwin Songbook by Ella Fitzgerald is amazing. Honestly, never knew who Ella was but I have heard her. Ella has the most iconic voice for Jazz in her time period. Ellas voice is really the forefront of the show. Wonderful quirky lyrics always keep a lot of these songs engaged even for 3 hours. Shout out to the Jazz band as well as they too did a wonderful job. Two issues I ran into: 1. I hate how history has whitewashed Ella. Cartoons, TV shows, etc. really fooled me that this was a white woman singing and not a black woman. Big shame on the industry 2. Back to the actual review: some of the songs in structure for a 3 hour album are repetitive. A lot of the songs end in that classic “ TO MEEEEEE” with the horns blasting and strings stringing. If I had to be critical, there need to be a little more varience. But I wouldn’t say it took away from my experience. Wonderful 3 hour experience and Ill probably be playing this album every Christmas now 8/10
Pretty good overall just extremely long!
Yeah I did like some people and listened to the Best Of, putting a full box set on here is certainly a choice. She has a absolutely lovely voice, but kind of like Sinatra, it's a very old and dated sound. That doesn't make it bad, but in the days of sonic soundscapes and dynamic artworks, it's tough to put this at anything but a 3.
Not as interesting as its contemporaries and has not aged well
Lovely vocal jazz project! Beautifully sung and the musical arrangements just as gorgeous. Ella is a generational talent! Surely this project was not meant to listen all in one sitting- 3 hours and 5 disks is quite overwhelming for the average listener today. As a piece that archives the Gershwin's collection well, I loved. As an album obviously it doesn't work... and if it was meant to be consumed as such, there would have been choices to leave out most of these tracks. BUT I loved most of the tracks, but the tracks dwindle in strength by the last two disks.
Day one was a two CD set. Not every song was a winner but there were some great pieces in it. Will return to this eventually.
Variety of songs. Beautiful voice
Veldig fint! Hørte ikke hele da, varer jo i timesvis.
The Gershwin Songbook is odd. It's 75% old-fashioned sounding ditties and 25% culture defining classics. Ella is great, duh, but the whole package is too long and would benefit from more curation.
too long...
Wonderful voice. Some fun tunes. Good work if you can get it! Tomato, tomahto
Vibes: 5/5 Instruments: 5/5 Production: 3/5 Emotional Value: 5/5 Storytelling: 4/5 Album Cover: 1 Stand Outs: Let's Call the Whole Thing Off, He Loves And She Loves Overall Rating: 4.6
I've roughly worked out that I have around 9,000 hrs of music listening time left (I hope it's more). I'm not wasting 4 hrs and 13 minutes of it with these 73 tracks!! Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ❌️ one track Revisit ❌️ Default ★★☆☆☆ (4/10)
158/1001 Ella Fitzgerald - The Gershwin Songbook Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ I managed the first disc and I'm pretty sure there's not going to be much deviation on the rest of the other discs. It was fine, just not my thing at all. Obviously minus a lot of stars for the audacity of a 3 and a half hour long album.
Ella is the best. The Gershwins are great. But all these songs are pretty similar and it is all too much. It isn't one album, it is six. I'll come back and give a proper rating later. 4/5 but still needs trimmigng
Voice like velvet.
Wonderful songs by George and Ira Gershwin, with an equally wonderful performance by Ella Fitzgerald. At over 3 hours, it certainly is longer than a traditional LP, but its length is warranted by its being a songbook. Standout tracks on each disc, but I'd be lying if I said that there were no forgettable tunes. That being said, the variety here ensures there are no real periods of dullness. I love the artwork on the sleeve too; it reminds me of the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg. Fitzgerald? New York?
I don't believe this album was meant to heard from front to back, so I chose to listen to the first few disks to get a summation of the whole album Sam and Delilah - 3.5/5 But Not For Me - 3.5/5 My One And Only - 3/5 Let's Call the Whole Thing Off - 3/5 (I've Got) Beginner's Luck - 3/5 Oh, Lady Be Good - 2.5/5 Nice Work If You Can Get It - 3/5 Things are Looking Up - 3/5 Just Another Rumba - 3/5 How Long Has This Been Going On? - 3/5 'S Wonderful - 3/5 The Man I Love - 3/5 That Certain Feeling - 3/5 By Strauss - 3/5 Someone to Watch Over Me - 3/5 The Real American Folk Song - 3/5 Yeah I definitely would not be able to go through this whole thing in one sitting, as most of the songs sort of blend into one another and it all feels like a blur. That doesn't take away that Ella Fitzgerald is an amazing vocalist and the instrumentation behind her is also quite good. My only problem is that (understandably) the whole book is made up of show tunes which isn't exactly my style. Probably a very high 3 but a 3 regardless. Favorites: Sam and Delilah, But Not For Me Overall: 3/5
Absolute behemoth of an album. This feels like an eternal building block on the musical timeline. Very fun revisiting so many songs from singing classes of yor
This is great! It gets repetitive for its over 3 hours, but it is fun! Very Jazzy and Ella's voice is great! Liked Songs: "Sam And Delilah" , "But Not For Me" , "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" , "(I've Got) Beginner's Luck" , "Nice Work If You Can't Get It" , "Things Are Looking Up" , " 'S Wonderful" , "The Certain Feeling" , "Someone To Watch Over Me" , "The Real American Folk Song" , "Who Cares?" , "They All Laughed" , "My Cousin In Milwaukee" , "A Foggy Day" , "Clap Yo' Hands" , "Stiff Upper Lip" , "Strike Up The Band" , "Soon" , "I've Got A Crush On You" , "Aren't You Kind Of Glad We Did?" , "Of Thee I Sing" , "The Half Of It Dearie Blues" , "Love Is Sweeping The Country" , "Treat Me Rough" , "Slap That Bass" , "Isn't It A Pity" , "Shall We Dance?" , "Love Walked In" , "I Can't Be Bothered Now" , "Fascinating Rhythm" , "Lorelei" , "I Got Rhythm" , "Fidgety Feet" , "Prelude III"
Was this an extremely long compilation album? Yes. Would I listed to it again because Ella Fitzgerald is that good? Also yes. 4.25
Certainly one of the greatest.
One of my favorite albums of all time. This is young love with Jessika. This is my heart as green as it ever was. Beautiful.
did not listen to the full 3 hours but gosh she had a wonderful voice, what a treat
i like ella fitzgerald but i wasnt a huge fan of this album itself
After listening to this massive album in its entirety I can confirm that it was… alright
This is 3 HOURS LONG. The first time I just stopped listening to one of these albums. Just not my kinda music at all.
Great voice that works its way around the melodies beautifully for a powerful perfomance, but this style of stringy jazz is too schmaltzy to bear.
I don't think I've ever listened to a 6 disk album before! I'd be lying if I said I truly took it all in, but having it on in the background was nice and overall I enjoyed the atmosphere of this album
Incredibly easy to listen to. Too short of an album. Really, really good.
Perfect to go along with first snow of the year
I love Ella Fitzgerald but even I was struggling to get past the 3 hours of this album. It wasn't that the album was bad, not at all, but if they would have split this album into say 3 albums then I would have liked it more. Being that long does diminish the songs as you are just wanting it to be over. I am a huge fan of Ella's work and Autumn in New York is definitely top 10 most comforting songs.
What a beautiful voice and amazing song interpretations.
MY BROTHER IN CHRIST THIS IS A BOX SET. Not just a compilation, a box set. God in heaven. The voice on this woman. Good God. Her tone is so clear and warm. Just unbelievable. The songs aren’t really my bag, but they are melodic, and catchy. I personally can’t stand “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” because who says “puh-TAH-to.” Who says “URFter.” “Lurfter.” What the hell. All this being said- this thing is wayyyyy too long. One disc is a good amount. Two is unreasonable. Three is insane. Four (the one with the alternate takes) is just cruel. Come on. Let’s swap this out for a compilation of this set. There must be one. FOUR STARS
Old school? No really really old school. Gershwin to the best of my knowledge was a huge movie and broadway composer. Not my cup o’ tea but gave me some early childhood black and white movie flashbacks.
Honestly just the first disc. Fine but I prefer the sad sacks.
absolutely beautiful vocals and instrumentation.
Perfect for dinner or holiday parties. Such a unique and nostalgic talent.
I love Ella Fitzgerald but this simply is not an album.
Ella has a beautiful voice and the Gershwin brothers wrote some modern classics that absolutely deserve to be called "standards", but 3.25hrs of homework is an unreasonable amount of homework for a purely recreational project like this. This is “final boss” level music homework and should only be given out as album number 1001. I guess I should be grateful we weren't given Ella's entire Great American Songbook series. Or are the other pieces still coming? This is a textbook on singing and I can easily see this used as a benchmark by which all other female vocal performances are measured. She also won a 1960 Grammy for "But Not For Me" from this record. This is fantastic work, but I don’t think I’ll be sitting through it again. My rating represents the quality of the work here, but accounts for my disinterest in engaging with it again. It’s the highest 3.99999999 I can give.
bro think she Laufey 🫠 Fire album tho will be dming this to my deceased grandma 🪦🌹
Sometimes the songs can be a bit corny but the arrangements are fun. A lot to digest in one sitting tho!
Ella's a legend of course. This is pretty tired though, probably slapped in 1959. Slapping was far more normalised back then. Also 3+ hours?! No chance.
This is bullshit. This isn't an album. Its a compilation. Great voice.
удивительно мало знала (но конечно они все похожи). не очень люблю Эллу (прости Элла и простите ОМ)
I can see the relevance of this one, but no need to go back to it
Big band jams
Gersh Alert!
I could listen to this every evening with a bottle of wine.
I've always had a soft spot for the works of Ella. Such an amazing voice. Yes, the Gershwin songs are generally quite dated but there are some absolute classics on this album.
As others on this site have pointed out, this is a very long compilation. But maybe grow up? Idk.
Hans probiert aber ich glaube mini ohre chönd nüd wükli toll finde wo vor 1960 gmacht worde isch. Sorry Ella, nöd dini schuld. Zwei schwarz-wiisi puntos
Gid mir wiehnachts vibe. Hät biz potential aber doch einiges zu alt gebacken und lngwillig. Schadens
Had it on in the background while working around the house and that was exactly what it lends itself to. Sounds like a cliche and it's obviously ridiculously long, but it's a mood for sure.
fui até a metade existe um limite do que dá pra ser feito nessa quantidade de tempo? mas gosto mto da ella então vamo lá!
escutei (quase) tudo, foi divertido. dividi em dois dias e não me cansei muito não, apesar de ser meio repetitivo. gostosinho de ouvir de fundo. bem bonito, vozerão bacana, arranjos bem chiques. bem década de 50 mesmo. bacana, mas 3 horinha eh sacanagem
Queen shit pt 2
Lets get this straight. This music sounds really good its all really good I like the sound yadda yadda yadda. I cannot listen to 3+ hours of this ever. Ive listened to many albums just as long as this that I love, but this is just not something I can feasibly enjoy for this long. So I cant give this higher then 3 stars, even if the music itself might deserve more.
Good stuff
Ella Fitzgerald has a beautiful voice. However a chorus of angels or a singing elephant could be singing these songs and I'd be looking for a way to escape half an hour in. Does anyone pronounce oyster "erster"? I don't think so. What were they saying about the squawky woman from Milwaukee? Clearly the sound of the words are much more important than the meaning of the lyrics.
Terrible noise
6 disks long.
This morning when the app reloaded & I'm revealed my album of the day, I was struck by the Picasso inspired caricature of Ms. Fitzgerald. My weird cartoon obsessed brain remembers her caricature used throughout cartoons in that Era. For the vast majority of us listening to this list, she probably is just is a caricature & a legendary name. Which is sad. When scanning the reviews, someone mentioned the song was too Tom & Jerry for them. Often times, jazz & classical music were used to protray emotion & action in those animated classics, hence the reason for the insane number of cartoon caricatures of Ella. And that's fascinating. (I may be thinking of Eartha Kitt.) What's crazier is way back in the day, they had orchestras in the pit at theaters. Can you imagine watching Bugs & the gang with an live orchestra? Is this good? Yes. Does Ella have an amazing voice? Yes. Is the band cooking? Very much so. Are the lyrics good? To some degree. The Rhumba song has some playful rhymes but silly at times. The potato - poTOTo song is fun. It reminds me my mother's pronunciation of wash as warsh & that amuses me. Do I really need to hear the ENTIRE songbook of the Gershwin boys? No. It's delightful nonetheless. Congrats if you finish this because you just listened to an ENTIRE composer's songbook & that's why it gets a 3. A daunting task but delightful. I'm getting a bit slap happy as I reach disc 5!?!?! I slappa da Bass! I must continue my journey. My God, those Gershwin Boys like rough sex. Pervs! Three hours & 15 minutes to listen to I Got Rhythm! 3:15 for I Got Rhythm! John Zorn could've played this in an hour in a cave. It wouldn't sound anything like this at all. Wait! This is the only Ella Fitzgerald album on here. There isn't a shorter better album that showcases her talent. I guess they wanted to kill two birds with one stone by having it be the Gershwin Songbook. At certain points, I said to myself "Didn't I just listen to this song?" Which is a bad thing after I just listened to this for 3 hours. There are a lot of things frustrating about rating this album & it has nothing to do with the music. It's too long & it's the ONLY album of hers on here, which makes wanna give this a 2. Yet, I did enjoy it, which makes me wanna give it a 3. I won't go any higher than 3 since I doubt I would revisit it.
Surprisingly very enjoyable, she is a very good singer, not my style of music personally though
Her voice is beautiful but 3+ hours of this is so much
loved
A very 2025 review of this 1959 collection: If you told me only one of these songs is real and the other 58 are just AI songs trained on that one song, I might believe it. Gershwin slop. 2.5
Yearner’s delight
One of the most romantic voices ever. Nobody could sing love songs like Ella ❤️
This is a perfect album by the First Lady of Song. If you're new to this, keep listening. More Ella!
Too big an album to give it a thorough listen, but this is reminiscent of my childhood with a mother who sang these songs. Not to mention the fact that she's an incredible voice of a generation. 4 only because it needs to be chopped down to one album (which is PLENTY to get Gershwin)
It's Ella. It's Gershwin. It's great. It's also really long. If you want to put on background music, or dip and out of, amazing. But waaay too much to just actively listen to in a sitting.
Jamais été un grand fan de jazz. On se fait un peu chier imo.
chill af
J'ai écouté la version courte pas la force non le temps d'écouter 3h de cette baddie. C'est musical, ça chante bien bonne expérience, mais si je notais sur l'album de 3h je sais que j'aurais pas tanké.
Really pleasant, gorgeous voice, fun premises
Oh man Ella. What a voice.
Ella at her best.
Older music from the 50s reminds me of Christmas music, which is part of why I think I have a higher tolerance towards. The way I listen to any music onwards is much different from the way I listen to music from this era. I listen much more passively, which in turn can make the listens much more enjoyable because I’m less interested in song structure or length or context even. Any of those finer things just get tossed out the window. For music from this era, if it sounds good, it’s getting a good rating from me, which isn’t always the case for music going forward. That being said, this was an extremely pleasant listen, and it’s probably for these previously-mentioned reasons that I can tolerate 3 hours of this music, but I really did enjoy it.
I didn't think I'd be saying this, but even though it's over three hours long, I enjoyed myself. Most of it isn't stuff I'll come back to, but some of it is and while it isn't my favourite Ella, she's still great here.
It seems the music on this album was the "oldies" music of 1959. The first three songs were originally released in 1930 (Sam and Delilah), 1930 (But Not for Me), and 1927 (My One and Only). Ella Fitzgerald is a legend and she sounds flawless. George and Ira Gershwin made incredible music, also legends. I was surprised how many of these songs are instantly recognizable. This album is truly the musical equivalent of drinking from the fire hose, there is just so much. There is really good music here, but there's a reason why no one sits down and eats 6 pieces of cake, much less 6 entire cakes, at one time.
Haven't heard. Liked it, sounds like old Disney. Only listened to half yesterday, but working on 2nd half today.
Amazing voice! And i really enjoyed listening to Ella, for a while. Unfortunately not really the type of jazz that I endure to listening for an extensive time. Certainly not for +3h. A plus for the album cover art work.
Massive album...
Beautiful renditions of THE authors of the Great American Songbook. A lot to digest in a single day
I listened to the entire thing and loved it. I had a super relaxing and pleasant day of work. The music is so good and the love songs are so sweet. Not sure why there is a disc of only instrumental tracks but I'll always gladly devote a few minutes to listening to the Gershwin Preludes.
She’s so talented. Loved it.
(50/100)
Endlessly lovely. Stunning vocals, phenomenal backing, wide breadth of subject matter but consistent quality, emotional range without losing sight of the one that matters most.
Not for me
Ella’s voice? Pure velvet. No complaints there—she could sing the phone book and make it sound classy. But after an hour of this sprawling box set, I started to feel like I’d wandered into a never-ending 1930s cocktail party where every song was about a woman either chasing a man, losing a man, or dramatically declaring she’ll never love again (until the next track). The orchestration is lush, but also a bit like musical wallpaper—elegant, but it all blends together after a while. By track five, I was half expecting Fred Astaire to tap-dance through my living room. Gershwin’s melodies are iconic, sure, but the lyrical themes feel like they were written by someone who thought emotional stability was a sign of weakness. In short: Ella’s voice is a gem, but the material feels like it’s stuck in a loop of romantic despair and orchestral déjà vu. Oh, and nobody has ever pronounced 'potato' as po-tah-to!
I didn’t think they’d be a longer album on this list than 69 love songs, but I guess I’m wrong haha. 6 CD’s worth of beautiful singing and standards from Ella, which sunk into the background quite nicely for myself. Due to its length it really started to drag on the 5th CD, but for what that’s worth it’s insane it took 2 hours for me to feel a bit fatigued.
Let’s get the elephant out of the room. This album is way too long for what it is. It felt like it. Sometimes it felt like she was singing whatever lyric was just placed in front of her, and it resulted in quite bizarre songs. Some of those songs were quite fun, though. However, if I had to listen to an artist's album for three hours, she would be a top pick due to the music being so easy to listen to. Her voice is so soft and placed well, and the beautiful backing band pairs really nicely. If the album had the quality of the first three songs, I would probably appreciate it more, but alas, it's not a bad album for its length.
Great voice and music but too long of an album to be included on this list.
What a stupid idea to feature an „Album“ that runs three and a half hours. Did not listen to it.
Not my cup of tea, also nearly 4 hours is a little extreme for the sake of an “album”
Realized how many songs have taken a samples from this album. I love her voice
Ella’s vocals are great, but this is simply too long for me to enjoy
Gosh, she's good.
I was really aware of Ella before this album, but never heard a song of hers before. This is a goos album, her voice is beautiful and her interpretation is great, however my only criticism, as this is a looong album at one point it becomes backgound noise. There are some standout songs still but it hardly grabbed my attention. I stilll want to learn more about her, might give a try on other albuns of her discography, but yeah, a 3h long album does not help much 3/5
Heh, when I saw the title for this one I went "She sings the whole songbook? All of it?" and, uh, yes she does! It takes a long time. There are a lot of songs. I wonder how often this got the played all the way through, even in 1959. 3 hours 15 minutes! That's a long time. The songs are gorgeous. I have a nostalgic fondness for Ella Fitzgerald, who my grandmother adored. Anytime she visited we would listen to a lot of her and Louis Armstrong. If you enjoy this sort of singer, jazz-band stuff there's a lot of extremely enjoyable music in here! However, I could not do it in one sitting. That was partly because of other life commitments, but this was a multi-day project. So much music to listen to, but at least it fits well in the background. It's all very pretty, Ella's voice is obviously gorgeous, but the arrangements are well done as well, and the Gershwin songbook is full of cutesy, old-school jazz standards. I'm a little unsure how to rate it on the whole. I don't think there was a song I disliked in here, but I enjoy this stuff as a baseline. I'm not sure you can go five stars for an album that is so difficult to do in one sitting, if it even really counts as an "album."
Nice.
An amazing collection of standards from a true giant.
This album is what you get when one of the greatest American Jazz vocalist of all time sings songs from two of the greatest American composers. During my normal research phase I could not find a single album that matched what I found on pandora. I had to stop listening after 40 songs because I pretty much understood what the album was like and did not need to listen to the remaining 30+ songs. It's not that I don't like Ella Fitzgerald or either George and Ira Gershwin. I just feel that 70+ songs in one sitting it asking a lot.
Su claro defecto es la duración que verdaderamente da miedo. Que saliera en el 1959 y tenga 59 es un chiste pero se te puede acabar la carcajada en el camino. Vale, la parte negativa ya acabo, creo que lo escuché entre 3 secciones y me parece que es la manera más viable de hacerlo, sirve para sonar en segundo plano mientras haces algo (estudiar en mi caso) pero no me veo dándole toda mi atención. Tengo que decir que agradezco ahora conocer de Ella porque tiene una excelente voz y mucho carisma, gran mujer y artista. Yo creo que volveré a escucharlo, quiero regresar por ese jazz del inicio, hace días en mi mente buscaba un sonido familiar a este y no encontraba, ya parece que encontré el camino que mi cabeza imagino. [Si fuese más corto, conciso y denso en calidad podría llegar al 4 o 5]
jazz
Nice
Voz doce e músicas imersivas. Vale muito viajar com esse tempo da música. QoA Vesper.
Musically, most of the material is in the 3.5-4 star territory for me. As an experience, it's about a 2. So let's meet in the middle. 3/5
What a great singer, Amazing
Wow! That was long…. There is no denying that her voice is great, the music is lovely but couldn’t a single album have been selected to show off her talents instead of a 3 hour 15 minute box set. Still, I made it through but a point needs to be deducted I think due to length of the “album”
Estuve escuchando todo el día este album, pues es bastante extenso y puedo decir con total seguridad q transmite demasiada paz en tus odios cada canción única 20/10
A lovely Sunday in New York vibe. Slow morning. <3
only listened to discs 1+2. Was wonderful!! Definitely a Christmas pick
Gorgeous!
oh my god it goes for three and a half hours. Even though it is really ong, I found I could just put it on in the background and go about my day. Makes a great background tracking album. Easy to listen to and absorb. And it's high quality too. Ella has an incredible voice, and the jazz compositions are complex enough melodies to capture your attention without being too demanding. And yet it's also pretty easy to get swept away by it.
This could be awesome but I refuse to listen. Too long
She has a fine voice, but I'm not going to listen to 4 hours of show tunes.
Tons of fun
Loved Ella, show tunes not so much
The content of this album is obviously all fantastic, but its just to long and doesn't work as an album.