12/14/13

Ella Fitzgerald's ELLA WISHES YOU A SWINGING CHRISTMAS [1960]



HERC also wishes you
A Swinging Christmas

There are no radical, new arrangements or endearing new compositions to be found among this 1960 album's twelve tracks: Just Ella's pure voice atop Frank DeVol's straight-forward backing arrangements. As she often does, Fitzgerald improvises a little bit throughout the album but not enough to jar you out of the Christmasy mood.  Scott Yanow, writing for allmusic, calls the album "a lightweight but enjoyable set of Christmas cheer" which seems incongruous with the four and a half star rating he gave it. HERC likes the album a lot and thanks to six bonus tracks added in 2002, there's a lot more of the album to like. Perfect for any gathering that requires mildly upbeat background music.  Was that just another incongruous review?  D'oh!

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