"The Nearness of You" is one of the most intimate performances on the 1956 Verve album Ella and Louis, with Louis Armstrong's half-chorus trumpet solo over the 36-bar AABA' form at a gentle 84 beats per minute lending the Hoagy Carmichael standard a quality of hushed tenderness. Armstrong's trumpet playing in ballad settings during this period of his career achieved a special kind of beauty, his tone softened by age into something irreplaceable, his phrasing carrying the emotional weight of a lifetime of musical experience. The key of D-flat major adds a warm tonal quality to both the vocal and instrumental passages. Carmichael's 1938 composition is one of the most enduring love songs in the American popular songbook, and the pairing of Fitzgerald's pure, precise vocal with Armstrong's rough-hewn singing and eloquent trumpet creates a performance of rare emotional depth. The Oscar Peterson Quartet, with Peterson on piano, Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass, and Buddy Rich on drums, provides accompaniment of such sensitivity that their presence enhances the mood without ever calling attention to itself. Ella and Louis achieved a rare balance of commercial appeal and artistic integrity, and this ballad performance exemplifies its enduring magic.
