The second of her celebrated song books albums and heralded as one of the best vocal jazz albums ever made, Ella and arranger/conductor Buddy Bregman began work on the Rodgers and Hart sessions three months after the release of her Cole Porter Songbook. Like its predecessor, it features the cream of West Coast session musicians, many of whom graced the fabulous recordings that Frank Sinatra was making around the same time in the same studio. Maynard Ferguson (trumpet), Milt Bernhart (trombone), Herb Geller, and Ted Nash and Bud Shank (reeds), Barney Kessel (guitar), & Alvin Stoller (drums). The album is full of standards that everyone knows and loves, but in Ella’s hands these songs become even more special. Standouts include “There’s a Small Hotel,” “You Took Advantage of Me,” and the perennial, “My Funny Valentine.”
