Ella and Louis Again is a studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, released in 1957 on Verve Records. It is the sequel to their 1956 album, Ella and Louis. In contrast to their previous collaboration, this album features seven solo vocal tracks by either Armstrong or Fitzgerald amongst its dozen duet tracks. It was reissued as part of a two-compact disc set in 1995, and in The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve in 1997. It was recorded at Radio Recorders and Capitol Studios, Hollywood.[1]

Ella and Louis Again
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 1957
RecordedJuly 23, July 31 and August 13, 1957
Studio
GenreJazz
Length90:26
LabelVerve MGV 4006-2
Verve 0602517036918 (2006)
ProducerNorman Granz
Ella Fitzgerald chronology
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook
(1956)
Ella and Louis Again
(1957)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook
(1957)
Louis Armstrong chronology
Louis Under the Stars
(1957)
Ella and Louis Again
(1957)
Porgy and Bess
(1959)

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music     [3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings    [4]

In addition to the album not being strictly all vocal duets, whereas on its predecessor Armstrong plays trumpet on every track, here he only plays on six. The Oscar Peterson Trio returns as the duo's backing, this time along with drummer Louie Bellson. Writing for AllMusic, music critic Alex Henderson wrote of the album:

One could nit-pick about the fact that Satchmo doesn't take more trumpet solos, but the artists have such a strong rapport as vocalists that the trumpet shortage is only a minor point. Seven selections find either Fitzgerald or Armstrong singing without the other, although they're together more often than not on this fine recording.[2]

Track listing

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Side one

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Don't Be That Way"Benny Goodman, Edgar Sampson, Mitchell Parish4:59
2."Makin' Whoopee" (Armstrong solo vocal)Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn3:56
3."They All Laughed"Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin3:46
4."Comes Love" (Fitzgerald solo vocal)Lew Brown, Sam Stept, Charles Tobias2:25
5."Autumn in New York"Vernon Duke5:57

Side two

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Let's Do It" (Armstrong solo vocal)Cole Porter8:41
2."Stompin' at the Savoy"Benny Goodman, Edgar Sampson, Chick Webb, Andy Razaf5:12
3."I Won't Dance"Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, Dorothy Fields4:43
4."Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You"Don Redman, Andy Razaf4:12

Side three

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"George Gershwin, Ira Gerswhin4:11
2."These Foolish Things" (Fitzgerald solo vocal)Harry Link, Holt Marvell, Jack Strachey7:36
3."I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm"Irving Berlin3:09
4."Willow Weep for Me" (Armstrong solo vocal)Ann Ronell4:18
5."I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket"Irving Berlin3:26

Side four

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Fine Romance"Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern3:52
2."Ill Wind" (Fitzgerald solo vocal)Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler3:41
3."Love Is Here to Stay"Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin3:58
4."I Get a Kick out of You" (Armstrong solo vocal)Cole Porter4:17
5."Learnin' the Blues"Dolores Silver7:11

CD editions

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In 1995 and 2003, a double CD was released with the same content as the double LP, but in 2000, a single CD was released with only the 12 duets, removing the 7 songs with either Armstrong or Fitzgerald solo vocal:

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Don't Be That Way"Benny Goodman, Edgar Sampson, Mitchell Parish4:59
2."They All Laughed"Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin3:46
3."Autumn in New York"Vernon Duke5:57
4."Stompin' at the Savoy"Benny Goodman, Edgar Sampson, Chick Webb, Andy Razaf5:12
5."I Won't Dance"Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, Dorothy Fields4:43
6."Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You"Don Redman, Andy Razaf4:12
7."Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"George Gershwin, Ira Gerswhin4:11
8."I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm"Irving Berlin3:09
9."I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket"Irving Berlin3:26
10."A Fine Romance"Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern3:52
11."Love Is Here to Stay"Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin3:58
12."Learnin' the Blues"Dolores Silver7:11

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart performance for Ella & Louis Again
Chart (2022) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[5] 84

References

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  1. ^ J. Wilfred Johnson (5 August 2010). Ella Fitzgerald: An Annotated Discography; Including a Complete Discography of Chick Webb. McFarland. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-7864-4690-2.
  2. ^ a b Henderson, Alex. "Ella and Louis Again > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  3. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  4. ^ Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (9th ed.). London: Penguin. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-14-103401-0.
  5. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – Ella & Louis Again" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 23, 2022.