The Best of the Song Books: The Ballads
Never as dramatic in her interpretations as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald nonetheless imbued the songs she chose with a personal touch. This disc, one of several recent distillations of her epochalSongbookseries, wisely chooses a number of relatively lesser known pieces ("Let's Begin," "You're Laughing at Me") to complement classic readings of "I'm Old Fashioned," "Oh, Lady Be Good!" and "Ill Wind (You're Blowing Me No Good)." Ella's singing tended to shield her pain, but the resigned note she brings to some of these numbers is touching. A good starter disc for those who would investigate her wide-ranging Verve catalog.--Rickey Wright