Ella Fitzgerald

[NOTE: The third post in the Musical Theory series of posts is below]

Link (Ella Fitzgerald official website):

http://www.ellafitzgerald.com/

Name: Ella Jane Fitzgerald (Lady Ella, the First Lady of Song)
Born: April 25, 1917
Died: June 15, 1996
Instrument: Vocals

A Favorite with Favorites:
The well known Frank Sinatra had only a small comment on Ella: "My all-time favorite." Quite a complement coming from Old Blue Eyes himself. He even blocked Capitol from re-releasing some of his own albums that would have run parallel to some of what Ella was releasing. Quite a respectful gesture. With such a fan as Frank Sinatra, you would think this Queen of Jazz Royalty would be confident and cool with any other performers. But Ella has admitted, herself, to being a fan of Billy Holiday:
"Once, when we were playing at the Apollo, Holiday was working a block away at the Harlem Opera House. Some of us went over between shows to catch her, and afterwards we went backstage. I did something then, and I still don't know if it was the right thing to do - I asked her for her autograph."
Even the favorites, have favorites.


Ella's Beginnings:
Ella was raised in New York, and orphaned at 14 when her mother had a heart attack and her father disappeared. She made her debut singing at the famous Amateur Night at the Apollo in Harlem. Young Ella had planned a dance number, but was so intimidated by a previous act that she opted to sing instead. A stroke of luck, and an excellent choice, won her the prize of $25 and also caught the attention of Bardu Ali, a member of Chick Webb's band. He talked to Chick about hiring Ella, and at first Chick flat out refused. Finally he allowed her to come along with them on a gig at Yale, as a kind of audition. She passed with flying colours. Chick Webb and Ella developed a strong personal relationship, and when Ella began touring with his group, Chick legally adopted her. In 1939, Chick Webb died of spinal tuberculosis and Ella became the leader of his band. She stayed with the group for a year and then starting touring solo. An almost fairy-tale like beginning to a career that would earn her 13 Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Art, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as well as a loyal following of many generations.

Ella's Style:
Ella Fitzgerald is to jazz vocals what Charlie Parker is to jazz sax. She began as a swing singer, but over the course of her career she covered many different styles including bebop, blues, bossa nova, samba, gospel, calypso, and of course scat. Scat singing had been around for a while before Ella Ritzgerald, but Ella and Louis Armstrong perfected the art. Scat singing is vocalizing, wither wordlessly or with nonsensical words, an improvised jazz solo. The idea is to create the vocal equivalent of an instrumental solo using only the voice. A common annecdote is that Louis Armstrong started the art of scat because he frequently forgot the words to songs. Ella picked up on his method of instrument impersonation, and took it to another level. In her own words, "I stole everything I ever heard, but mostly I stole from the horns." She did impressions as well, and was able to acurately duplicate both Marilyn Monroe and Louis Armstrong. Ella commanded great respect during her time, and crossed several racial borders. Ella Fitzgerald was a black woman who popularized songs written by immigrant Jews to a national audience of predominantly white Christians, and got away with it. Her incredible technical ability, and perfect pitch transcended all racial boundries.

Verve:
The Verve record company was formed in 1955 around Ella, by her manager Norman Granz. Under this label, Ella recorded songs by artists from what is known as the "Great American Songbook". This consisted of eight albums, each devoted to a great American composer:

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook (1956)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook (1956)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook (1957)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook (1958)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook (1959)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook (1961)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (1963)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook (1964)

She also recorded an album devoted to Cole Porter, Ella Loves Cole (1972), and another Gershwin album, Nice Work If You Can Get It (1983). As well as 3 albums with Louis Armstrong:

Ella and Louis (1956)
Ella and Louis Again (1957)
Porgy & Bess (in the early 50's)

A Listening Exercise:
For the more enthusiastic among you, try comparing Porgy & Bess as done by Ella and Louis, Miles Davis, and Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass.

Loved and Remebered:
Ella's obituary can be found HERE at CNN.



"I guess what everyone wants more than anything else is to be loved. And to know that you loved me for my singing is too much for me. Forgive me if I don't have all the words. Maybe I can sing it and you'll understand."
--Ella Fitzgerald

[Links removed. Files are available upon request.]