Ella Fitzgerald
BORN: April 25, 1917, Newport News, VA
DIED: June 15, 1996, Beverly Hills, CA
"The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald was arguably the finest female
jazz singer of all time (although some may vote for Sarah Vaughan or Billie
Holiday). Blessed with a beautiful voice and a wide range, Ella could outswing
anyone, was a brilliant scat singer and had near-perfect elocution; one could
always understand the words she sang. The one fault was that, since she always
sounded so happy to be singing, Ella did not always dig below the surface
of the lyrics she interpreted and she even made a downbeat song such as "Love
for Sale" sound joyous. However, when one evaluates her career on a whole,
there is simply no one else in her class.
One could never guess from her singing that Ella Fitzgerald's early days
were as grim as Billie Holiday's. Growing up in poverty, Ella was literally
homeless for the year before she got her big break. In 1934 she appeared
at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, winning an amateur contest by singing "Judy"
in the style of her idol, Connee Boswell. After a short stint with Tiny Bradshaw,
Ella was brought to the attention of Chick Webb by Benny Carter (who was
in the audience at the Apollo). Webb, who was not impressed by the 17-year-old's
appearance, was reluctantly persuaded to let her sing with his orchestra
on a one-nighter. She went over well and soon the drummer recognized her
commercial potential. Starting in 1935, Ella began recording with Webb's
Orchestra and by 1937 over half of the band's selections featured her voice.
"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" became a huge hit in 1938 and "Undecided" soon followed.
During this era Fitzgerald was essentially a pop/swing singer who was best
on ballads while her medium-tempo performances were generally juvenile novelties.
She already had a beautiful voice but did not improvise or scat much; that
would develop later.
On June 16, 1939 Chick Webb died. It was decided that Ella would front the
orchestra even though she had little to do with the repertoire or hiring
or firing the musicians. She retained her popularity and when she broke up
the band in 1941 and went solo, it was not long before her Decca recordings
contained more than their share of hits. She was teamed with the Ink Spots,
Louis Jordan and the Delta Rhythm Boys for some best-sellers and in 1946
began working regularly for Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic. Granz
became her manager although it would be nearly a decade before he could get
her on his label. A major change occured in Ella's singing around this period.
She toured with Dizzy Gillespie's big band, adopted bop as part of her style
and started including exciting scat-filled romps in her set. Her recordings
of "Lady Be Good," "How High the Moon" and "Flying Home" during 1945-47 became
popular and her stature as a major jazz singer rose as a result. For a time
(1948-52) she was married to bassist Ray Brown and used his trio as a backup
group. Ella's series of duets with pianist Ellis Larkins in 1950 (a 1954
encore with Larkins was a successful follow-up) found her interpreting George
Gershwin songs, predating her upcoming Songbooks series.
After appearing in the film Pete Kelly's Blues in 1955, Ella signed with
Norman Granz's Verve label and over the next few years she would record extensive
"Songbooks" of the music of Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart,
Duke Ellington, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer. Although (with
the exception of the Ellington sets) those were not her most jazz-oriented
projects (Ella stuck mostly to the melody and was generally accompanied by
string orchestras), the prestigious projects did a great deal to uplift her
stature. At the peak of her powers around 1960, Ella's hilarious live version
of "Mack the Knife" (in which she forgot the words and made up her own) from
Ella in Berlin is a classic and virtually all of her Verve recordings are
worth getting.
Ella's Capitol and Reprise recordings of 1967-70 are not on the same level
as she attempted to "update" her singing by including pop songs such as "Sunny"
and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," sounding quite silly in the process.
But Ella's later years were saved by Norman Granz's decision to form a new
label, Pablo. Starting with a Santa Monica Civic concert in 1972 that is
climaxed by Ella's incredible version of "C Jam Blues" (in which she trades
off with and "battles" five classic jazzmen), Fitzgerald was showcased in
jazz settings throughout the 1970s with the likes of Count Basie, Oscar Peterson
and Joe Pass among others. Her voice began to fade during this era and by
the 1980s her decline due to age was quite noticeable. Troubles with her
eyes and heart knocked her out of action for periods of time although her
increasingly rare appearances found Ella still retaining her sense of swing
and joyful style. By 1994, Ella was in retirement and she passed away two
years later, but she remains a household name and scores of her recordings
are easily available on CD. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
One of the world's all-time greatest jazz singers for over 50 years and the
queen of scat singing, Ella Fitzgerald has been the subject of numerous documentaries
and performance videos. During the '50s, '60s, and '70s, she often appeared
on television variety shows, daytime programs, and in specials. During the
'70s, her voice could be heard shattering glass on Memorex ("Is it live or
is it Memorex?") commercials. Earlier in her career, Fitzgerald made the
occasional feature film appearance beginning with Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942).
~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide