By 1963,
Ella Fitzgerald's Songbook series had almost run its course and was becoming much less ambitious in scope. Her
Jerome Kern set features her interpretations of 14 songs while backed by an orchestra arranged by
Nelson Riddle. Treatments of such classics as "A Fine Romance," "All the Things You Are," and "Yesterdays" are pretty straightforward and would have pleased the composer. All of her songbooks are now included in the massive 16-CD box set The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books. ~ Scott Yanow