Ivie Anderson with Duke Ellington & his Famous Orchestra: It Don't Mean A Thing - Her 54 Finest 1932-1946

Here is a glorious musical portrait of one of the all-time great jazz singers. Ivie Anderson (1905-1949) was the finest vocalist Duke Ellington ever had. After making her name at the Cotton Club, she was hired by Duke in 1931 and spent 11 years as a distinctive asset to his wonderful band, with her voice an important part of the ensemble. She was, in Duke’s own words “an extraordinary artist”, with her light-toned voice and relaxed style equally effective in either the gaiety of the stomp or the sadness of the blues. “It Don’t Mean A Thing” in fact means something very special indeed. It was Ivie’s very first recording with Duke Ellington in 1932, became a timeless jazz classic, and is now the title of Retrospective’s magnificent summary of her career from first recording to her last. Her 47 finest Ellington performances are here – although one, the exuberant All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm, featured in the Marx Brothers film A Day At The Races, was labelled as by ‘Ivie Anderson and her Boys From Dixie’. 21 of them are Ellington originals, including Mood Indigo and I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good, equally famous for the superlative playing of Johnny Hodges. Ivie was surrounded by superstar soloists, and there are great contributions from such as Cootie Williams, Lawrence Brown, Rex Stewart or Ben Webster, and of course the Duke himself (e.g. his exhilarating stride piano on Get Yourself A New Broom).