The Harold Arlen Songbook, Vol. 2

AMG Review of The Harold Arlen Songbook, Vol. 2

Scott Yanow
All Music Guide

Of all of her Songbooks (which are now available on the remarkable 16-CD set The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books), the Harold Arlen and Duke Ellington sets are the most jazz-oriented. With perfectly suitable arrangements by Billy May for the ig band and occasional strings, she really digs into the 26 Arlen songs, giving her own sympathetic interpretations to such classics as "Blues in the Night," "Stormy Weather," "My Shining Hour," "That Old Black Magic," "Come Rain or Come Shine," "It's Only a Paper Moon," and even "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead." [The two CD volumes of The Harold Arlen Songbook are available separately and feature 13 songs each.]