Ella & Duke at the Cote D'azur

AMG Review of Ella & Duke at the Cote D'azur

Scott Yanow
All Music Guide

Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington did not team up in concerts until relatively late in their careers (although she did record her Ellington Songbook with him in the '50s). This live double LP actually finds Fitzgerald singing six numbers with the Jimmy Jones Trio and only "Mack the Knife" and a scat-filled "It Don't Mean a Thing" with the orchestra. Ellington has eight numbers for his band, mostly remakes of older tunes (including a guest appearance by former associate Ben Webster on "All Too Soon," a remarkable Buster Cooper trombone feature, and a rowdy version of "The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues"). This is a spirited set of music that with better planning could have been great. [The 1997 CD reissue of At the Cote D'Azur was expanded to a double-disc set with the addition of several bonus tracks. The double CD was released as a teaser for the 1998 release of the eight-disc The Complete Ella & Duke at Cote D'Azur.]