"An intimate, beautifully moving set of recordings. This reissue perfectly captures the subtle tones of Oscar, Ella, and Louis, that we have come to treasure. Rainy day music."
"As on 'Ella and Louis', it's predecessor, Ella and Louis couldn't have been recorded better. A far cry from the big bands, which seemed to force too much out of Ella at times."
"This constantly underrated album is by far the jazziest of the songbook albums, and for me is the most satisfying of the set, both on the ballads, which are sublime, and the fabulous swinging numbers."
"A wonderful, massive album which perfectly showcases the live talents that made Ella so famous, which she could never recreate in the studio. One can't see the whole Ella without at least 1 live set."
"Apart from the wonderful Ellington set, most of the songbook series until this one were fairly bland and unimaginative. This one was different: Brassy, exciting, varied, and touching."
"As far as Ella's concerned, this album is highly successful. Her set is mostly mid-tempo numbers, but the highlight is definately 'Air Mail Special', a blisteringly fast scat showcase for Fitzgerald."
"Riddle's arrangments are brilliant, Ella is spot on, and the sound is perfect. The album is consistently excellent, but there is no stand-out highlight. Just a textbook example of big band music."
"Some brassy big band numbers, but the sheer volume of just good numbers, sometimes excellent numbers, is the best thing about this album. Just a massive collection of classic material."
"This classic duet album contains the now infamous rendition of 'Summertime'. The ballads are beautiful, and the big brassy numbers are exuberant and exciting."