As far as vocal jazz goes, Ella Fitzgerald's series of songbook albums recorded for Norman Granz's Verve label in the 1950s represent something of a high-watermark. Featuring 59 songs recorded over an eight-month period, reissued here as a 3CD set, the Gershwin songbook was to be the largest single recording project that Fitzgerald worked on. It finds the vocalist at the height of her considerable powers, whether scatting on a scintillating ‘I Got Rhythm’ (the one occasion the singer gets to scat during the entire songbook), effortlessly navigating the waltz-time ‘By Strauss’, or melting the heart with ballads such as ‘But Not For Me’. Coupled with Nelson Riddle's brilliant charts, it's little wonder that the collection led Ira Gershwin to say that he'd “never known how good our songs were until I heard Ella sing them”. In addition to the original 59 songs included on the 5LP set, we also get to hear the singer's first attempt at recording a Gershwin songbook, namely the 1950 10-inch Decca LP Ella Sings Gershwin featuring eight sparkling duets with pianist Ellis Larkins. An additional Gershwin duet (‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’), recorded by Fitzgerald and Larkins in 1954, rounds off this unmissable, landmark set.