A tribute to Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald with Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Milt Jackson, and Timme Rosenkrantz in New York City, 1947. ! Image via Wikipedia.
On October 22, 2016, The Count Basie Orchestra began rehearsal to record a live concert at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem to honor what many believe is one of the greatest jazz singers of all time, the wonderful Ella Fitzgerald. Playing with the Basie Band is like belonging to a centerpiece of jazz history, it had recorded an epic record with Ella in 1961 entitled “Ella and Basie!” Let’s celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month remembering Ella’s birthday, April 25.
Ella would have been 100 years old in 2017, a monumental jazz moment in history and along with guests like Patti Austin, Andra Day, and Cassandra Wilson a historic new recording was created. At 17 years old, Ella Fitzgerald began her career at the Apollo Theatre’s famous Talent Show, where she was going to compete as a dancer but decided to sing “Judy” and the rest is history.
“The original recording of a young Ella singing is an amazing demonstration of the depth and talent of the young singer.”
The original recording of a young Ella singing is an amazing demonstration of the depth and talent of the young singer. The depth of her soul and improvisation that would change the jazz vocal world forever was evident from the start.
The depth of her soul and improvisation that would change the jazz vocal world forever was evident from the start. "One of Ella’s most recognized songs was 'A Tisket, A Tasket' where Ella takes a nursery rhyme and turns it into a Jazz hit." One of Ella’s most recognized songs was "A Tisket, A Tasket" where Ella takes a nursery rhyme and turns it into a Jazz hit. Ella co-wrote the song with the arranger Al Feldman, who would later would be known as Van Alexander.
"Ella made a famous recording of 'How High the Moon', where she didn’t remember the words and made up lyrics and scat singing leading a brilliant improvisation.”
The hit was a breakthrough hit for Ella and The Chick Webb Orchestra in 1938, and we were going to re-create it with Patti Austin on vocals at the Apollo Theatre. Patti is best known for her pop vocals, but she is a great jazz vocalist also. I remember my band mate next to me was worried about Patti making it to the microphone on time, but I said, she’s the consummate professional, don’t worry, and like clockwork, she hit the mic on the exact point of “A Tisket, a tasket”, and the music was off and running!
Ella was highly respected by the musicians because she could play piano, knew the harmony, and would scat the chords of the tunes as she improvised, much like jazz masters such as Charlie Parker. Ella made a famous recording of "How High the Moon", where she was asked to sing it, but she didn’t remember the words, so Ella made up lyrics and scat singing leading a brilliant improvisation. Ella was always the consummate entertainer.
Ella Fitzgerald left a legacy of masterful recordings which have influenced each generation of vocalists leading her to be named “The First Lady of Jazz”, including Cassandra Wilson, Roberta Gambarini, Lady Gaga, and many others. She was influenced by her time spent with Dizzy Gillespie and learned the bebop language and drew upon it in her famous scats. While singing "How High the Moon", she would also sing Charlie Parker’s “Ornithology”, a bebop tune written on the same chords as "How High The Moon".
In her lengthy career Ella recorded with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, the Ink Spots and Frank Sinatra. In fact, Frank came out of retirement in the early 1970s to play with Basie and Ella at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, which led to a profitable two week run on Broadway along with the Basie Band in 1975.
If you like Ella Fitzgerald, then you can enjoy Oh! Jazz talented singers such as Rita Satch from the JazzLab in Melbourne, Susana Ruiz from Café Berlín in Madrid or Purdy from 606 Club in London.