Ella Fitzgerald & Roy Eldridge

blues with bebop references (1964)

Ella Fitzgerald, vocal; Roy Eldridge, trumpet; Tommy Flanagan, piano; Bill Yancey, bass; Gus Johnson, drums.

This performance is in some way a historical reference to Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrongs St. Louis Blues. This time it is Ella Fitzgerald and Roy Eldridge. They are in the same call-and-response tradition that has continued throughout jazz history. Notice how Ella so easily moves to scat and sounds so horn-like. Both these soloists moved from the swing idiom into bebop. Few musicians made this transition successfully.
