Ella at Duke's Place;

Ella Fitzgerald made some of her greatest recordings with Duke Ellington and his band, including the extensive three-CD Ellington Songbook and the eight-CD Cote d'Azur Concerts. This session from 1965 is an excellent place to begin listening to the relationship, a self-contained set that joins Fitzgerald with the Duke and his still-great band. The brilliance of Fitzgerald's voice is apparent even when placed amid such great Ellingtonians as altoist Johnny Hodges and trumpeters Cootie Williams and Cat Anderson. She and Hodges are perfectly matched on subtle Billy Strayhorn tunes like "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing" and "Passion Flower." --Stuart Broomer