The timeless music here makes one forget what a surprise it and its 1956 predecessor Ella & Louis were at the time. Although Fitzgerald normally toured with her own trio and Armstrong with his All-Stars, they were icons who usually played to their audience's expectations, and the more informal and collaborative side of their personalities had been largely hidden from view. This partial reissue is exceptionally long-playing, since the original 2-LP set is shorn of seven tracks which had either Ella or Louis without the other present, and the remaining 55 minutes here have high-powered duetting throughout. The songs are invariably from the 1930s-40s glory days of the American songbook, with the interesting exception of the then-recent Sinatra hit ‘Learnin' The Blues’.

Armstrong's trumpet isn't present on every tune, but its brief appearances all carry a punch, and the Peterson-led rhythm-section is brilliant at making quick key-changes and offering maximum support. Recorded only a few weeks before Louis felt compelled to comment on the school integration situation in Little Rock, this shows him and Ella offering joy unbounded.