Ella & Duke at the Cote D'Azur
This two-CD collection differs considerably from both the stunning eight-CD completeCôte d'Azurset and the single-CD all-EllingtonSoul Call, taken from the same set of concerts at the 1966 Antibes jazz festival. Ella Fitzgerald's all over these tunes, making this a full-on collaborative set. She sounds mightily driven, sometimes almost boundary-breaking in her execution. Vocally, she's both tightandloose, brimming with turns of phrase and belting lyrics with popping exactness. The dates caught here aren't regarded as the greatest for either of the marquee artists (for the greatest of each, see theFitzgerald EssentialsorEllington Essentials), but in terms of the sheer quality of music and the fullness of artistic vision, Fitzgerald's tunes vie with anything else she did in her career. Sure, many of the tunes are fast and jumping, but their propulsion is largely thanks to Fitzgerald's heightened sense of play. And the Ellington band was always up for play.--Andrew Bartlett