The Diva this week is Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington's recording of a song Ellington wrote with lyricist Bob Russell, "I Didn't Know About You." I listened to that recording many times over the last week and fell in love with the song all over again.
I suspected that the great Ellington saxophone player Ben Webster did a recording of it and I found it on YouTube. I wrote my brother Howard that no one can bend a note like Webster - - except maybe Patsy Cline. Howard said that another Ellington sax player, Johnny Hodges, was also known for bending notes and sliding around. I found a Hodges recording on YouTube, hit Play...and it was the same damn recording. I mean exactly the same.
Clearly someone biffed on the labels. Either it's Webster or it's Hodges. I know comparatively little about either of them but my money is on Hodges. I think his playing is more showy, more of a delightful display - - whereas Webster is more earnest and tender.
Here's the recording that's labeled as Hodges:
Wikipedia is a treasure trove of information, as always. The first recording of the song was made in 1944 by the Ellington band with singer Joya Sherrill. I don't think I was familiar with her. Nice voice and a lovely performance. The record opens with a piano solo by Duke:
Count Basie had a hit with the song in 1945. The singer is Thelma Carpenter, another singer I didn't know, another lovely voice. The Basie arrangement has an appealing strut to it.
There were other recordings that same year, probably piggybacking on Basie's success. My favorite is the divine Jo Stafford with the Paul Weston band and the Pied Pipers. I think I missed my true calling - - can you imagine how great I would have been as one of the Pied Pipers?
Mildred Bailey, yet another singer I don't know. With the Paul Baron Orchestra (definitely don't know that dude). This arrangement is a little too Deanna Durbin for my taste. Miss Bailey is distinctive, a light sweet sheen to the voice and a charming, direct manner of delivery.
And one more recording from 1945, the one and only Lena Horne. I don't know how she does it but she makes it sound like she's telling a story or having a conversation rather than singing a song.
One last recording! This one by Jo Stafford again, from a later vintage. This is from her album Jo + Jazz from 1960. Ben Webster is listed on the album cover and that sure sounds like him to me... Stafford sounds lovely as usual but I prefer her previous version. This version seems a bit may I say "mannered"? Plus I really don't care for her wig.
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