CAROL SLOANE & CLARK TERRY - The Songs Ella & Louis Sang (1997) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This release both is and, in a sense, isn't a tribute to the mighty and lovable Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. As far as the repertoire goes, of course, these songs were associated with Ella and Louis in their separate and joint projects. But Carol Sloane and Clark Terry are definitely not imitators of anybody; it is their inimitable styles, mannerisms, lyrical bents, and distinctive senses of humor that make this disc happen. Terry's slippery trumpet slides and bounces over the notes in a completely different manner than Armstrong, and he displays just as much personality in doing so. You also hear much more of Terry's actual singing than usual (as opposed to his mumbles act on "Stompin' at the Savoy"), breezy and full of jive. Carol Sloane is closer to Shirley Horn in soft-focused tone than she is to Ella, and she makes a fine dusky-voiced foil for Terry's talking horn obligatos. With only the backing of a piano trio, this is as relaxed and ingratiating a set in its own way as the first Ella/Louis albums on Verve were, evoking the atmosphere, if not the actual sound, of a 1950s Norman Granz production. Richard S. Ginell
Tracklist :
1     I Won't Dance 5'00
Dorothy Fields / Otto Harbach / Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern / Jimmy McHugh    
2     Tenderly 4'22
Walter Gross / Jack Lawrence    
3     Don't Be That Way 6'17
Benny Goodman / Mitchell Parish / Edgar Sampson
4     Can't We Be Friends? 4'32
Paul James / Kay Swift     
5     Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You 4'28
Andy Razaf / Don Redman
6     Autumn in New York 5'34
Vernon Duke    
7     Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love) 5'07
Cole Porter
8     Stars Fell on Alabama 4'57
Mitchell Parish / Frank Perkins
9     Moonlight in Vermont 4'13
John Blackburn / Karl Suessdorf    
10     Blueberry Hill 5'37
Al Lewis / Vincent Rose / Larry Stock    
11     Stompin' at the Savoy 5'43
Benny Goodman / Andy Razaf / Edgar Sampson / Chick Webb
12     When It's Sleepy Time Down South 3'26
Clarence Muse / Otis Rene / Leon René    
Credits :
Bass – Marcus McLaurine
Drums – Dennis Mackrel
Piano – Bill Charlap
Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Vocals – Clark Terry
Vocals – Carol Sloane