In her live performances of 1949, Ella Fitzgerald (who turned 33 that year) often showed the influence of bebop in her phrasing and improvising. However, her studio recordings for Decca (all 21 selections that she cut that year on are on this CD) are surprisingly absent of bebop, instead alternating ballads and bluish pieces with a few swing-oriented numbers. Fitzgerald sounds typically wonderful and cheerful, but the arrangements (for the orchestras of Sy Oliver, Goron Jenkins, and Sonny Burke) are often closer to middle-of-the-road pop music than to jazz. Fitzgerald sounds in fine form on such numbers as "Old Mother Hubbard," "Happy Talk," "Black Coffee," "In the Evening," and "I Hadn't Anyone Till You," imitating Louis Armstrong a bit on "Basin Street Blues." In addition, there are two numbers with Louis Jordan's Tympany Five (including "Baby It's Cold Outside") and two forgettable selections with the Mills Brothers. This CD is a real gap-filler (few of these selections are ever reissued), but not essential.
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