For Ella

by

Patti Austin

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Being a huge Ella fan, I had no choice but to grab this new CD in which Patti pays her own loving, yet swinging homage. As far as I'm concerned, this deserves much more than 5 stars!!!

Thanks to the slam-dunk big band/string charts fashioned by that arranger extraordinaire, Patrick Williams, Patti smacks this one right out of the ballpark. Ella put her stamp on thousands of songs throughout her career, but included herein are the creme de la creme of her repetoire, such as "Mr. Paganini" and "How High the Moon" (both sung note for note exactly as Ella recorded them), "The Man I Love," "Too Close for Comfort" (with some explosive scatting in the out chorus), and so on.

One track that will surely get lots of play on my stereo is "Hearing Ella Sing," written by Patrick Williams and Arthur Hamilton (the man who wrote "Cry Me a River" for Julie London).

Kudos to the aforementioned Mr. Williams (fast becoming one of my favorite arrangers), Gregg Field for his explosive drumming and co-producing, and the WDR Big Band and Orchestra for such superb backing that ought to make the Hollywood studio elite take notice.

With this CD, Ms. Austin demonstrates that she can do much more than R&B and pop...this is a must for her fans, as well as those who dig great jazz singing - Ella, we'll never let you go!!!

I have listened to Patti Austin's work, and when I heard she was doing a CD of some of Ella's greatest songs, I became nervous. The album was not musical slander (Kenny G over Louis Armstrong), but it most certainly did not do Ella justice. Austin's interpretations on such tunes as "Too Close for Comfort" were far from the innovation and style of Ella. Ella Fitzgerald was possibly the best jazz vocalist ever, and we can all learn from her legacy. For Austin to title her album "For Ella" seems a bit presumptuous, as this R&B "Diva" falls far short of the First Lady of Jazz. I would never discourage anyone from singing Ella, but though Austin is a respected figure in the smooth jazz community, she must realize that one must tread lightly over sacred ground.