Ella Fitzgerald

Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

This tune was recorded by Ella for her Harold Arlen songbook album, with the original arrangement scored by Billy May. We have adapted the chart to a full 5444 line-up (from the original 5114) though have kept the feel and flavour true to the original. Billy May chose an innovative set of chord changes for his chart which are significantly different from Harold Arlen's concept. The result is that the chart is cool yet progressive and, whilst the band notes are easy, it will need to be sung very confidently, as the vocal line doesn't immediately sit very naturally against the band backings. It will require a bit of practice. We have written Ella's vocal line 'as sung', including the scat passage towards the close of the chart. The vocal key is Bb throughout, and there are no sax doubles. The original Vibe solo is replaced by Piano ad-lib.