Verve’s historic Ella and Louis from 1956 was hugely popular at the time of its release and remains one of the most universally beloved jazz albums of all time. Here, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong performed definitive duet versions of classic compositions, many of which originated from Great Depression musicals. They share a lovers’ intimacy on their version of Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek,” backed by a then-young Canadian pianist named Oscar Peterson, leading a quartet. Ella and Louis would be the first of the two jazz titans’ three studio albums together.
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