While she was on the broad, lofty, sunlit plateau that corresponds with the `peak' in other singers' careers, Ella Fitzgerald was barely capable of singing a bum note, let alone recording a weak album. However, within the context of that supremely polished, summative exploration of American popular music, the `Songbook' series, the 1963 entry devoted to Jerome Kern is, in my view, the nearest to an indifferent collection. It should have been a cracker - Kern's constantly surprising refrains, Nelson Riddle's near-infallible sense of the most suitable arrangement, Fitzgerald's peerless, understated sensitivity to mood and melody.

In fairness, had this been the only Songbook that Ella ever recorded, it would still be a fine achievement by any standards. And there are many pleasures here. There is the characteristically subtle and un-obvious ordering of material - for instance, the album begins, aptly, with the relatively little-known but utterly charming `Let's Begin' rather than the crowd-pleasing `A Fine Romance' (which comes next) and ends on an unexpectedly low-key note with a desolate rendering of `Why Was I Born?' There are some moments of pure loveliness unsurpassed in any of Ella's or Riddle's other recordings: just listen to the way they build and round out that exquisite rising phrase in `I'm Old Fashioned' - " But sighing sighs, holding hands/ These my heart understands ..."

However, there is something slightly lackluster about the proceedings, and certain elements just don't work. For example, Riddle very seldom misjudged pace with any of his collaborators, but the tempo of `The Way You Look Tonight' - which should have been one of the jewels in Ella's songbook crown - is slow to the point of being funereal. And is it my imagination, or does Ella end `A Fine Romance' slightly flat? If these are two specific problems, there are others that are less tangible. The album just does not hang together or command your attention as do the other Riddle entries in the songbook series - not just the monumental Gershwin collection but also the underrated `Johnny Mercer Songbook,' which he arranged for Ella the year after doing Kern. If there is a single underlying problem, it is perhaps that Ella was not in her usual matchless voice for these sessions - there is a breathiness and a dullness of timbre which is certainly not present in her landmark album with Count Basie from July of the same year or, for that matter, in the Mercer songbook recorded towards the end of 1964.

In summary, if you're building up a collection of Ella's songbooks, then you won't want to leave this one out. There is an awful lot to appreciate in it both for the seasoned Fitzgerald fan and for those who simply love great tunes, often with excellent lyrics by the likes of Mercer and Dorothy Fields, sung with wit and tenderness. However, if you're relatively new to Ella's work, then my advice would be this: don't start here - experience first the lambent beauty of her work on the Berlin songbook (still, at the time of writing, available as two separate albums) or her definitive interpretation of the greatest music ever produced in Broadway, in the 2CD set devoted to the songs of Rodgers and Hart.

Ella's songbook recordings are uniformly wonderful, and provide the definitive versions of standard songs. This collection is no exception. Ella is in fine voice on these recordings. A particular highlight is "The Way You Look Tonight". This wonderful song is done in a slow, very romantic manner that communicates the essential underlying emotion. The other songs are also done extremely well. There is not a weak track in this collection. As an introduction to Ella Fitzgerald, and to Jerome Kern, one could not do better than this CD.

While the Jerome Kern Songbook is considered generally to be the least of the songbooks, I feel it is a truly wonderful album that deserves a place on anyone's shelf who enjoys good music.

Kern was a master of melody and his style suits Ella perfectly!!The Nelson Riddle arrangements are lovely and Ella's vocals are pure and gorgeous throughout. High points on this wonderful collection are "I'm Old Fashioned", "Remind Me", and "Yesterdays". But the whole album is wonderful!! Standout lyrics throughout!! A great example of Ella's versatility!! Buy it!! You won't regret it!!!

If you thought Ella, Nelson and Gershwin were an unbeatable trio, think again!

Here the accent is on one composer with several different lyricists - Mercer, Hammerstein, Harbach and Fields. I've never been a great fan of Hammerstein (much preferred Rodgers with Hart rather than the legendary "O"), however the lyrics Oscar provided for Ella's songs in this cd were certainly not "as corny as Kansas in August". Ella's version of "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" is pure and simple. She wisely avoids the usual delivery of "when he goes awayAY, that's a rainy dayAY" and sings it in her own understated but elegant manner.

I've read so many articles about Ella's lack of emotion and feeling, it almost sickens me. I think most people (am I being too generous to critics by referring to them as such?) confuse emotion and feeling with hysterical histrionics. No so! Listen to Ella's humorous treatment of "I'll be Hard to Handle", "Let's Begin" and, most notably, "She Didn't Say Yes". The humor is not "Ha Ha Ha", it's so subtle, it's pure magic. She also get's her old fashioned delivery perfect in "I'm Old Fashioned".

Nelson Riddle continued to provide the "best of the best" arrangements. Here is a conductor and arranger who knows when to stay in the background and when to come out swinging.

This is just one totally enjoyable recording.

I was a little disappointed with this CD - and with the LP from which it came. Ella sings as well as ever and Nelson Riddle's arrangements are, as always, skillful and varied. There are only 12 tracks on the CD as on the vinyl original to give a total playing time of 50 minutes - rather frugal by today's standards. But my main objection was with the choice of material. Kern wrote so many great songs and several of these that are included are not amongst his best - `Let's begin', `You couldn't be cuter', `She didn't say yes'. Where were `All through the day', `Can I forget you', `Make believe', `In love in vain' or `Smoke gets in your eyes' for example? These had not been widely recorded by other artists, even in the 1960s. I would normally expect to rate everything that Ella records as 5* but I cannot honestly do that here. Try Sylvia McNair sings the Jerome Kern Songbook: only piano accompaniment rather than orchestra (but what piano!! - played by Andre Previn).