Ella at her finest

How fresh is the feeling of Ella, always and forever. At age twenty-one, her voice is sweet, like honey and molasses on a breeze: smooth, rich, effortless. This dense double CD compilation, its musical heritage recorded with impeccable clarity, is an essential addition to any collection of jazz history, for these are the years when Ella blossems into her full (magical) maturity, and when, tragically, her brilliant and well loved band leader, Chick Webb, dies of tuberculosis at the height of his fame. Their last songs recorded together: chew chew chew (chew your bubble gum), little white lies, and don't worry 'bout me, are reason enough to have (and to hold) this gem of a recording. Dense also in poetry are the lyrics of these fine songs: "as we sail away on a crest of a thrill, keep building a stairway to the stars, it would be heaven to climb with you"...so light a voice in so heavy a time, Ella, the early years, 1939-1941...a heavenly sound heralding a heartbreaking war...This music is all that music can be, and more.