Ella and Louis was released in 1956, the first of Fitzgerald and Armstrong's three Verve albums together. Norman Granz selected the ballad repertoire and produced the session. Armstrong had the final say over songs and keys, making the partnership a practical arrangement as well as a marquee pairing.
A strategic pivot, not a sentimental one.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book is a 1956 studio double album recorded in Hollywood over four sessions in February and March 1956; it features Fitzgerald singing Cole Porter’s songs with a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Buddy Bregman, under producer Norman Granz’s conceptual direction to expand her audience while preserving jazz inflections through orchestral arrangement choices. It was the inaugural release on Verve Records and launched Fitzgerald’s acclaimed Song Book series.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Gershwin Song Book, Vol. 2 is a documented instalment in a pre-defined series — not a self-contained artistic event. Its value lies entirely in its position: following the Cole Porter volume, preceding others, and contributing to a structured survey of the Great American Songbook. Nothing in the source supports claims about its sound, performance, or originality.