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).

Contents:

CD 1
1. It Don’t Mean A Thing
2. I’ve Got The World On A String
3. Happy As The Day Is Long
4. Raising The Rent
5. Get Yourself A New Broom
6. I’m Satisfied
7. Ebony Rhapsody
8. Troubled Waters
9. My Old Flame
10. Let’s Have A Jubilee
11. Cotton
12. Truckin’
13. Isn’t Love The Strangest Thing?
14. Love Is Like A Cigarette
15. Kissin’ My Baby Goodnight
16. Oh, Babe, Maybe Someday!
17. Shoe Shine Boy
18. It Was A Sad Night In Harlem
19. I’ve Got To Be A Rug Cutter
20. My Honey’s Lovin’ Arms
21. Where Are You?
22. There’s A Lull In My Life
23. All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm
24. Alabamy Home
25. If You We re In My Place
26. Swingtime In Honolulu

CD 2
1. You Gave Me The Gate
2. Rose Of The Rio Grande
3. When My Sugar Walks Down The Street
4. Watermelon Man
5. La De Doody Doo
6. In A Mizz
7. I’m Checkin’ Out, Go’om-Bye
8. A Lonely Co-Ed
9. You Can Count On Me
10. Killin’ Myself
11. Solitude
12. Stormy Weather
13. Mood Indigo
14. So Far, So Good
15. Me And You
16. At A Dixie Roadside Diner
17. The Five O’Clock Whistle
18. Chocolate Shake
19. I Got It Bad
20. Jump For Joy
21. Rocks In My Bed
22. I Don’t Mind
23. Hayfoot, Strawfoot
24. Mexico Joe
25. I Got It Bad
26. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
27. Empty Bed Blues
28. Big Butter And Egg Man