Ella Fitzgerald

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Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald (Gottlieb 02871).jpg
Fitzgerald in November 1946
Born Ella Jane Fitzgerald
April 25, 1917
Newport News, Virginia, U.S.
Died June 15, 1996 (aged 79)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Cause of death Diabetes mellitus
Spouse(s) Benny Kornegay
(m. 1941; annulled 1943)
Ray Brown
(m. 1947; div. 1953)
Children Ray Brown Jr.
Musical career
Genres
Swing bebop traditional pop vocal jazz blues
Occupation(s) Singer, actress
Instruments Vocals
Years active 19341994
Labels
Capitol Decca Pablo Reprise Verve Brunswick HMV Universal
Website ellafitzgerald.com
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer
often referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz and Lady Ella. She wa
s noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing and intonation, and
a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.
After tumultuous teenage years, Fitzgerald found stability in musical success wi
th the Chick Webb Orchestra, performing across the country, but most often assoc
iated with the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Fitzgerald's rendition of the nursery r
hyme "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" helped boost both her and Webb to national fame. Takin
g over the band after Webb died, Fitzgerald left it behind in 1942 to start a so
lo career that would last effectively the rest of her life.
Signed with manager and Savoy co-founder Moe Gale[1] from early in her career, s
he eventually gave managerial control for her performance and recording career t
o Norman Granz, who built up the label Verve Records based in part on Fitzgerald
's vocal abilities. With Verve she recorded some of her more widely noted works,
particularly her interpretation of the Great American Songbook.
While Fitzgerald appeared in movies and as a guest on popular television shows i
n the second half of the twentieth century, her musical collaborations with Loui
s Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and The Ink Spots were some of her most notable act
s outside of her solo career. These partnerships produced recognizable songs lik
e "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "Cheek to Cheek", "Into Each Life Some Rain Must
Fall", and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)". In 1993, Fitzg
erald capped off her sixty-year career with her last public performance. Three y
ears later, she died at the age of 79, following years of decline in her health.
After her passing, Fitzgerald's influence lived on through her fourteen Grammy
Awards, National Medal of Arts, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and tributes in t
he form of stamps, music festivals, and theater namesakes.
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Early career
3 Decca years
4 Verve years
5 Film and television
6 Collaborations
7 Later life and death
8 Personal life
9 Discography and collections
9.1 Awards, citations and honors
10 Tributes and legacy
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links
Early life[edit]
Fitzgerald was born on April 25, 1917, in Newport News, Virginia, the daughter o
f William Fitzgerald and Temperance "Tempie" Fitzgerald.[2] Her parents were unm
arried but lived together for at least two and a half years after she was born.
In the early 1920s Fitzgerald's mother and her new partner, a Portuguese immigra
nt named Joseph Da Silva,[2] moved to the city of Yonkers, in Westchester County
, New York, as part of the first Great Migration of African Americans.[2] Initia
lly living in a single room, her mother and Da Silva soon found jobs. Her half-s
ister, Frances Da Silva, was born in 1923.[3] By 1925, Fitzgerald and her family
had moved to nearby School Street, then a predominantly poor Italian area.[3] S
he began her formal education at the age of six and proved to be an outstanding
student, moving through a variety of schools before attending Benjamin Franklin
Junior High School from 1929.[4]
Fitzgerald had been passionate about dancing from third grade, being a fan of Ea
rl "Snakehips" Tucker in particular, and would perform for her peers on the way
to school and at lunchtime.[5] Fitzgerald and her family were Methodists and wer
e active in the Bethany African Methodist Episcopal Church, and she regularly at
tended worship services, Bible study, and Sunday school.[5] The church provided
Fitzgerald with her earliest experiences in formal music making, and she may als
o have had a short series of piano lessons during this period.[6]
During this period Fitzgerald listened to jazz recordings by Louis Armstrong, Bi
ng Crosby, and The Boswell Sisters. Fitzgerald idolized the Boswell Sisters' lea
d singer Connee Boswell, later saying, "My mother brought home one of her record
s, and I fell in love with it....I tried so hard to sound just like her."[7]
In 1932, her mother died from serious injuries she received in a car accident [8
] when Fitzgerald was 15 years of age. This left her at first in the care of her
stepfather but before the end of April 1933, she had moved in with her aunt in
Harlem.[9] This seemingly swift change in her circumstances, reinforced by what
Fitzgerald biographer Stuart Nicholson describes as rumors of her stepfather's "
ill treatment" of Fitzgerald, leaves him to speculate that Da Silva might have a
bused her.[9]
Following these traumas, Fitzgerald began skipping school and letting her grades
suffer. During this period she worked at times as a lookout at a bordello and w
ith a Mafia-affiliated numbers runner.[10] Ella Fitzgerald never talked publicly
about this time in her life.[11] When the authorities caught up with her, she w
as first placed in the Colored Orphan Asylum in Riverdale, in the Bronx.[12] How
ever, when the orphanage proved too crowded, she was moved to the New York Train
ing School for Girls in Hudson, New York, a state reformatory located about 120
miles north of New York City. Eventually she escaped and for a time she was home
less.
Early career[edit]
A young Fitzgerald, photographed by Carl Van Vechten in 1940
While she seems to have survived during 1933 and 1934 in part from singing on th
e streets of Harlem, Fitzgerald made her most important amateur singing debut at
age 17 on November 21, 1934, in one of the earliest of the famous Amateur Night
s at the Apollo Theater.[13][14] She had originally intended to go on stage and
dance, but, intimidated by a local dance duo called the Edwards Sisters, she opt
ed to sing instead.[14][15] Performing in the style of Connee Boswell, she sang
"Judy" and "The Object of My Affection" and won the first prize of $25.00.[16] I
n theory, she also won the chance to perform at the Apollo for a week but, seemi
ngly because of her disheveled appearance, the theater never gave her that part
of her prize.[17]
In January 1935 Fitzgerald won the chance to perform for a week with the Tiny Br
adshaw band at the Harlem Opera House.[13] Around this same time, she was introd
uced to the drummer and bandleader Chick Webb, who had asked his recently signed
singer Charlie Linton to help find him a female singer. Though Webb was, as The
New York Times later wrote, "reluctant to sign her....because she was gawky and
unkempt, a 'diamond in the rough,'"[7] he offered her the opportunity to test w
ith his band when they played a dance at Yale University.[13]
Met with approval by both audiences and her fellow musicians, Fitzgerald was ask
ed to join Webb's orchestra and soon gained acclaim as part of the group's renow
ned performances at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom.[13] Fitzgerald recorded several hit
songs with them, including "Love and Kisses" and "(If You Can't Sing It) You'll
Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini)".[13] But it was her 1938 version of the nurser
y rhyme, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," a song she co-wrote, that brought her wide public
acclaim.[18][19] Later that year Ella recorded her second hit, "I Found My Yell
ow Basket."
Webb died of spinal tuberculosis on June 16, 1939,[20] and his band was renamed
Ella and her Famous Orchestra, with Fitzgerald taking on the role of nominal ban
dleader.[21] Fitzgerald recorded nearly 150 songs with Webb's orchestra between
1935 and its final end in 1942. In her New York Times obituary of 1996, Stephen
Holder echoed the conventional critical view of the time in describing "the majo
rity" of her recordings during this period as "novelties and disposable pop fluf
f".[7] In addition to her work with Webb, Fitzgerald performed and recorded with
the Benny Goodman Orchestra. She had her own side project, too, known as Ella F
itzgerald and Her Savoy Eight.
Decca years[edit]
Fitzgerald performing with Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Milt Jackson and Timme Ro
senkrantz in September 1947, New York
In 1942, Fitzgerald left the band to begin a solo career.[22] Continuing under c
ontract to the Decca label that she had worked with while part of Webb's orchest
ra, she had several popular hits while recording with such artists as Bill Kenny
& the Ink Spots,[23] Louis Jordan,[24] and the Delta Rhythm Boys.[25]
With Decca's Milt Gabler as her manager, Fitzgerald began working regularly for
the jazz impresario Norman Granz and appeared regularly in his Jazz at the Philh
armonic (JATP) concerts. Her relationship with Granz was further cemented when h
e became her manager, although it would be nearly a decade before he could recor
d her on one of his many record labels.
With the demise of the Swing era and the decline of the great touring big bands,
a major change in jazz music occurred. The advent of bebop led to new developme
nts in Fitzgerald's vocal style, influenced by her work with Dizzy Gillespie's b
ig band. It was in this period that Fitzgerald started including scat singing as
a major part of her performance repertoire. While singing with Gillespie, Fitzg
erald recalled, "I just tried to do [with my voice] what I heard the horns in th
e band doing."[16]
Her 1945 scat recording of "Flying Home" arranged by Vic Schoen would later be d
escribed by The New York Times as "one of the most influential vocal jazz record
s of the decade....Where other singers, most notably Louis Armstrong, had tried
similar improvisation, no one before Miss Fitzgerald employed the technique with
such dazzling inventiveness."[7] Her bebop recording of "Oh, Lady Be Good!" (19
47) was similarly popular and increased her reputation as one of the leading jaz
z vocalists.[26]
Verve years[edit]
Fitzgerald was still performing at Granz's JATP concerts by 1955. She left Decca
and Granz, now her manager, created Verve Records around her. She later describ
ed the period as strategically crucial, saying, "I had gotten to the point where
I was only singing be-bop. I thought be-bop was 'it', and that all I had to do
was go some place and sing bop. But it finally got to the point where I had no p
lace to sing. I realized then that there was more to music than bop. Norman ...
felt that I should do other things, so he produced Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Col
e Porter Song Book with me. It was a turning point in my life."[7]
On March 15, 1955[27] Ella Fitzgerald opened her initial engagement at the Mocam
bo nightclub in Hollywood,[28] after Marilyn Monroe lobbied the owner for the bo
oking.[29] The booking was instrumental in Fitzgerald's career. Bonnie Greer dra
matized the incident as the musical drama, Marilyn and Ella, in 2008. It had pre
viously been widely reported that Fitzgerald was the first black performer to pl
ay the Mocambo, following Monroe's intervention, but this is not true. African-A
merican singers Herb Jeffries,[30] Eartha Kitt,[31] and Joyce Bryant[32] all pla
yed the Mocambo in 1952 and 1953, according to stories published at the time in
Jet magazine and Billboard.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book, released in 1956, was the first
of eight Songbook sets Fitzgerald would record for Verve at irregular intervals
from 1956 to 1964. The composers and lyricists spotlighted on each set, taken t
ogether, represent the greatest part of the cultural canon known as the Great Am
erican Songbook. Her song selections ranged from standards to rarities and repre
sented an attempt by Fitzgerald to cross over into a non-jazz audience. The sets
are the most well-known items in her discography.

Fitzgerald in 1968, courtesy of the Fraser MacPherson estate

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book was the only Songbook on whic
h the composer she interpreted played with her. Duke Ellington and his longtime
collaborator Billy Strayhorn both appeared on exactly half the set's 38 tracks a
nd wrote two new pieces of music for the album: "The E and D Blues" and a four-m
ovement musical portrait of Fitzgerald (the only Songbook track on which Fitzger
ald does not sing). The Songbook series ended up becoming the singer's most crit
ically acclaimed and commercially successful work, and probably her most signifi
cant offering to American culture. The New York Times wrote in 1996, "These albu
ms were among the first pop records to devote such serious attention to individu
al songwriters, and they were instrumental in establishing the pop album as a ve
hicle for serious musical exploration."[7]
Days after Fitzgerald's death, The New York Times columnist Frank Rich wrote tha
t in the Songbook series Fitzgerald "performed a cultural transaction as extraor
dinary as Elvis' contemporaneous integration of white and African American soul.
Here was a black woman popularizing urban songs often written by immigrant Jews
to a national audience of predominantly white Christians."[10] Frank Sinatra, o
ut of respect for Fitzgerald, prohibited Capitol Records from re-releasing his o
wn recordings in separate albums for individual composers in the same way.[citat
ion needed]
Fitzgerald also recorded albums exclusively devoted to the songs of Porter and G
ershwin in 1972 and 1983; the albums being, respectively, Ella Loves Cole and Ni
ce Work If You Can Get It. A later collection devoted to a single composer was r
eleased during her time with Pablo Records, Ella Abraa Jobim, featuring the songs
of Antnio Carlos Jobim.
While recording the Songbooks and the occasional studio album, Fitzgerald toured
40 to 45 weeks per year in the United States and internationally, under the tut
elage of Norman Granz. Granz helped solidify her position as one of the leading
live jazz performers.[7] In 1961 Fitzgerald bought a house in the Klampenborg di
strict of Copenhagen, Denmark, after she began a relationship with a Danish man.
Though the relationship ended after a year, Fitzgerald regularly returned to De
nmark over the next three years, and even considered buying a jazz club there. T
he house was sold in 1963, and Fitzgerald permanently returned to the United Sta
tes.[33]
There are several live albums on Verve that are highly regarded by critics. At t
he Opera House shows a typical JATP set from Fitzgerald. Ella in Rome and Twelve
Nights in Hollywood display her vocal jazz canon. Ella in Berlin is still one o
f her best-selling albums; it includes a Grammy-winning performance of "Mack the
Knife" in which she forgets the lyrics but improvises magnificently to compensa
te.
Verve Records was sold to MGM in 1963 for $3 million and in 1967 MGM failed to r
enew Fitzgerald's contract. Over the next five years she flitted between Atlanti
c, Capitol and Reprise. Her material at this time represented a departure from h
er typical jazz repertoire. For Capitol she recorded Brighten the Corner, an alb
um of hymns, Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas, an album of traditional Christmas caro
ls, Misty Blue, a country and western-influenced album, and 30 by Ella, a series
of six medleys that fulfilled her obligations for the label. During this period
, she had her last US chart single with a cover of Smokey Robinson's "Get Ready"
, previously a hit for the Temptations, and some months later a top-five hit for
Rare Earth.
The surprise success of the 1972 album Jazz at Santa Monica Civic '72 led Granz
to found Pablo Records, his first record label since the sale of Verve. Fitzgera
ld recorded some 20 albums for the label. Ella in London recorded live in 1974 w
ith pianist Tommy Flanagan, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Keter Betts and drummer
Bobby Durham, was considered by many to be some of her best work. The following
year she again performed with Joe Pass on German television station NDR in Hambu
rg. Her years with Pablo Records also documented the decline in her voice. "She
frequently used shorter, stabbing phrases, and her voice was harder, with a wide
r vibrato", one biographer wrote.[34] Plagued by health problems, Fitzgerald mad
e her last recording in 1991 and her last public performances in 1993.[35]
Film and television[edit]
Fitzgerald shakes hands with President Ronald Reagan after performing in the Whi
te House, 1981
In her most notable screen role, Fitzgerald played the part of singer Maggie Jac
kson in Jack Webb's 1955 jazz film Pete Kelly's Blues.[36] The film costarred Ja
net Leigh and singer Peggy Lee.[37] Even though she had already worked in the mo
vies (she had sung briefly in the 1942 Abbott and Costello film Ride 'Em Cowboy)
,[38] she was "delighted" when Norman Granz negotiated the role for her, and, "a
t the time....considered her role in the Warner Brothers movie the biggest thing
ever to have happened to her."[34] Amid The New York Times pan of the film when
it opened in August 1955, the reviewer wrote, "About five minutes (out of ninet
y-five) suggest the picture this might have been. Take the ingenious prologue ..
. [or] take the fleeting scenes when the wonderful Ella Fitzgerald, allotted a f
ew spoken lines, fills the screen and sound track with her strong mobile feature
s and voice."[39] Fitzgerald's race precluded major big-screen success. After Pe
te Kelly's Blues, she appeared in sporadic movie cameos, in St. Louis Blues (195
8),[40] and Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960).[41] Much later, she appeared in
the 1980s television drama The White Shadow.
She made numerous guest appearances on television shows, singing on The Frank Si
natra Show, The Andy Williams Show, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, and alongside
other greats Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Mel Torm, and many others. She was also
frequently featured on The Ed Sullivan Show. Perhaps her most unusual and intrig
uing performance was of the "Three Little Maids" song from Gilbert and Sullivan'
s comic operetta The Mikado alongside Joan Sutherland and Dinah Shore on Shore's
weekly variety series in 1963. A performance at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in Lon
don was filmed and shown on the BBC. Fitzgerald also made a one-off appearance a
longside Sarah Vaughan and Pearl Bailey on a 1979 television special honoring Ba
iley. In 1980, she performed a medley of standards in a duet with Karen Carpente
r on the Carpenters' television program Music, Music, Music.[42]
Fitzgerald also appeared in TV commercials, her most memorable being an ad for M
emorex.[43] In the commercials, she sang a note that shattered a glass while bei
ng recorded on a Memorex cassette tape.[44] The tape was played back and the rec
ording also broke another glass, asking: "Is it live, or is it Memorex?"[44] She
also appeared in a number of commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken, singing an
d scatting to the fast-food chain's longtime slogan, "We do chicken right!"[45]
Her last commercial campaign was for American Express, in which she was photogra
phed by Annie Leibovitz.[46]
Collaborations[edit]
Fitzgerald's most famous collaborations were with the vocal quartet Bill Kenny &
the Ink Spots, trumpeter Louis Armstrong, the guitarist Joe Pass, and the bandl
eaders Count Basie and Duke Ellington.
From 1943 to 1950, Fitzgerald recorded seven songs with the Ink Spots featuring
Bill Kenny. Out of all seven recordings, four reached the top of the pop charts
including "I'm Making Believe" and "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" which bo
th reached #1.
Fitzgerald recorded three Verve studio albums with Armstrong, two albums of stan
dards (1956's Ella and Louis and 1957's Ella and Louis Again), and a third album
featured music from the Gershwin musical Porgy and Bess. Fitzgerald also record
ed a number of sides with Armstrong for Decca in the early 1950s.
Fitzgerald is sometimes referred to as the quintessential swing singer, and her
meetings with Count Basie are highly regarded by critics. Fitzgerald features on
one track on Basie's 1957 album One O'Clock Jump, while her 1963 album Ella and
Basie! is remembered as one of her greatest recordings. With the 'New Testament
' Basie band in full swing, and arrangements written by a young Quincy Jones, th
is album proved a respite from the 'Songbook' recordings and constant touring th
at Fitzgerald was engaged in during this period. Fitzgerald and Basie also colla
borated on the 1972 album Jazz at Santa Monica Civic '72, and on the 1979 albums
Digital III at Montreux, A Classy Pair and A Perfect Match.
Fitzgerald and Joe Pass recorded four albums together toward the end of Fitzgera
ld's career. She recorded several albums with piano accompaniment, but a guitar
proved the perfect melodic foil for her. Fitzgerald and Pass appeared together o
n the albums Take Love Easy (1973), Easy Living (1986), Speak Love (1983) and Fi
tzgerald and Pass... Again (1976).
Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington recorded two live albums and two studio albums. He
r Duke Ellington Songbook placed Ellington firmly in the canon known as the Grea
t American Songbook, and the 1960s saw Fitzgerald and the 'Duke' meet on the Cte
d'Azur for the 1966 album Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur, and in Sweden for Th
e Stockholm Concert, 1966. Their 1965 album Ella at Duke's Place is also extreme
ly well received.
Fitzgerald had a number of famous jazz musicians and soloists as sidemen over he
r long career. The trumpeters Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie, the guitarist He
rb Ellis, and the pianists Tommy Flanagan, Oscar Peterson, Lou Levy, Paul Smith,
Jimmy Rowles, and Ellis Larkins all worked with Ella mostly in live, small grou
p settings.
Possibly Fitzgerald's greatest unrealized collaboration (in terms of popular mus
ic) was a studio or live album with Frank Sinatra. The two appeared on the same
stage only periodically over the years, in television specials in 1958 and 1959,
and again on 1967's A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim, a show that also featur
ed Antnio Carlos Jobim. Pianist Paul Smith has said, "Ella loved working with [Fr
ank]. Sinatra gave her his dressing-room on A Man and His Music and couldn't do
enough for her." When asked, Norman Granz would cite "complex contractual reason
s" for the fact that the two artists never recorded together.[34][47] Fitzgerald
's appearance with Sinatra and Count Basie in June 1974 for a series of concerts
at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, was seen as an important incentive for Sinatra to
return from his self-imposed retirement of the early 1970s. The shows were a gr
eat success, and September 1975 saw them gross $1,000,000 in two weeks on Broadw
ay, in a triumvirate with the Count Basie Orchestra.
Later life and death[edit]
Fitzgerald had suffered from diabetes for several years of her later life, which
had led to numerous complications.[7] In 1985, Fitzgerald was hospitalized brie
fly for respiratory problems,[48] in 1986 for congestive heart failure,[49] and
in 1990 for exhaustion.[50] In March 1990 she appeared at the Royal Albert Hall
in London, England with the Count Basie Orchestra for the launch of Jazz FM, plu
s a gala dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel at which she performed.[51] In 1993
, she had to have both of her legs amputated below the knee due to the effects o
f diabetes.[52] Her eyesight was affected as well.[7]
In 1996, tired of being in the hospital, she wished to spend her last days at ho
me. Confined to a wheelchair, she spent her final days in her backyard of her Be
verly Hills mansion on Whittier, with her son Ray and 12-year-old granddaughter,
Alice. "I just want to smell the air, listen to the birds and hear Alice laugh,
" she reportedly said. On her last day, she was wheeled outside one last time, a
nd sat there for about an hour. When she was taken back in, she looked up with a
soft smile on her face and said, "I'm ready to go now." She died in her home on
June 15, 1996 at the age of 79.[7] A few hours after her death, the Playboy Jaz
z Festival was launched at the Hollywood Bowl. In tribute, the marquee read: "El
la We Will Miss You."[53] Her funeral was private,[53] and she was buried at Ing
lewood Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Personal life[edit]
Fitzgerald married at least twice, and there is evidence that suggests that she
may have married a third time. Her first marriage was in 1941, to Benny Kornegay
, a convicted drug dealer and local dockworker. The marriage was annulled in 194
2.[54]
Her second marriage was in December 1947, to the famous bass player Ray Brown, w
hom she had met while on tour with Dizzy Gillespie's band a year earlier. Togeth
er they adopted a child born to Fitzgerald's half-sister, Frances, whom they chr
istened Ray Brown Jr. With Fitzgerald and Brown often busy touring and recording
, the child was largely raised by his mother's aunt, Virginia. Fitzgerald and Br
own divorced in 1953, bowing to the various career pressures both were experienc
ing at the time, though they would continue to perform together.[7]
In July 1957, Reuters reported that Fitzgerald had secretly married Thor Einar L
arsen, a young Norwegian, in Oslo. She had even gone as far as furnishing an apa
rtment in Oslo, but the affair was quickly forgotten when Larsen was sentenced t
o five months' hard labor in Sweden for stealing money from a young woman to who
m he had previously been engaged.[55]
Fitzgerald was also notoriously shy. Trumpet player Mario Bauz, who played behind
Fitzgerald in her early years with Chick Webb, remembered that "she didn't hang
out much. When she got into the band, she was dedicated to her music....She was
a lonely girl around New York, just kept herself to herself, for the gig."[34]
When, later in her career, the Society of Singers named an award after her, Fitz
gerald explained, "I don't want to say the wrong thing, which I always do but I
think I do better when I sing."[16]
Fitzgerald was a quiet but ardent supporter of many charities and non-profit org
anizations, including the American Heart Association and the City of Hope Nation
al Medical Center. In 1993, she established the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Found
ation.[56][57]
Discography and collections[edit]
Further information: Ella Fitzgerald discography
The primary collections of Fitzgerald's media and memorabilia reside at and are
shared between the Smithsonian Institution and the US Library of Congress [58]
Awards, citations and honors[edit]
Further information: List of awards received by Ella Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald won thirteen Grammy Awards,[59] and received the Grammy Lifetime Achi
evement Award in 1967.[60]
In 1958 Fitzgerald was the first African American female to win at the inaugural
show.[61]
Other major awards and honors she received during her career were the Kennedy Ce
nter for the Performing Arts Medal of Honor Award, National Medal of Art, first
Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award, named "Ella" in her honor, Presid
ential Medal of Freedom, and the George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musi
cal Achievement, UCLA Spring Sing, and the UCLA Medal (1987).[62] Across town at
the University of Southern California, she received the USC "Magnum Opus" Award
which hangs in the office of the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation. In 1990
, she received an honorary doctorate of Music from Harvard University.[63]
Tributes and legacy[edit]
Wiki letter w.svg
This section is missing information about the impacts and influences of Ms Fitzg
erald and her music on other artists, on the later history of music, and on soci
ety. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may
exist on the talk page. (March 2017)
Fitzgerald in 1960 by Erling Mandelmann
The career history and archival material from Ella's long career are housed in t
he Archives Center at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, whi
le her personal music arrangements are at the Library of Congress. Her extensive
cookbook collection was donated to the Schlesinger Library at Harvard Universit
y, and her extensive collection of published sheet music was donated to UCLA.
In 1997, Newport News, Virginia created a music festival with Christopher Newpor
t University to honor Ella Fitzgerald in her birth city. Past performers at the
week-long festival include: Diana Krall, Arturo Sandoval, Jean Carne, Phil Woods
, Aretha Franklin, Victoria Wyndham, Charles Keating, Freda Payne, Cassandra Wil
son, Ethel Ennis, David Sanborn, Jane Monheit, Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewate
r, Ramsey Lewis, Patti Austin, Lalah Hathaway, Ledisi, Chrisette Michele, Natali
e Cole, Freddie Jackson, Joe Harnell, Roy Ayers and Ann Hampton Callaway.
Callaway, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Patti Austin have all recorded albums in trib
ute to Fitzgerald. Callaway's album To Ella with Love (1996) features fourteen j
azz standards made popular by Fitzgerald, and the album also features the trumpe
ter Wynton Marsalis. Bridgewater's album Dear Ella (1997) featured many musician
s that were closely associated with Fitzgerald during her career, including the
pianist Lou Levy, the trumpeter Benny Powell, and Fitzgerald's second husband, d
ouble bassist Ray Brown. Bridgewater's following album, Live at Yoshi's, was rec
orded live on April 25, 1998, what would have been Fitzgerald's 81st birthday.
Austin's album, For Ella (2002) features 11 songs most immediately associated wi
th Fitzgerald, and a twelfth song, "Hearing Ella Sing" is Austin's tribute to Fi
tzgerald. The album was nominated for a Grammy. In 2007, We All Love Ella, was r
eleased, a tribute album recorded for the 90th anniversary of Fitzgerald's birth
. It featured artists such as Michael Bubl, Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knig
ht, Diana Krall, k.d. lang, Queen Latifah, Ledisi, Dianne Reeves, Linda Ronstadt
, and Lizz Wright, collating songs most readily associated with the "First Lady
of Song". Folk singer Odetta's album To Ella (1998) is dedicated to Fitzgerald,
but features no songs associated with her. Her accompanist Tommy Flanagan affect
ionately remembered Fitzgerald on his album Lady be Good ... For Ella (1994).
"Ella, elle l'a", a tribute to Fitzgerald written by Michel Berger and performed
by French singer France Gall, was a hit in Europe in 1987 and 1988.[64] Fitzger
ald is also referred to in the 1976 Stevie Wonder hit "Sir Duke" from his album
Songs in the Key of Life, and the song "I Love Being Here With You", written by
Peggy Lee and Bill Schluger. Sinatra's 1986 recording of "Mack the Knife" from h
is album L.A. Is My Lady (1984) includes a homage to some of the song's previous
performers, including 'Lady Ella' herself. She is also honored in the song "Fir
st Lady" by Canadian artist Nikki Yanofsky.
In 2008, the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center in Newport News named its brand
new 276-seat theater the Ella Fitzgerald Theater. The theater is located several
blocks away from her birthplace on Marshall Avenue. The Grand Opening performer
s (October 11 and 12, 2008) were Roberta Flack and Queen Esther Marrow.
In 2012, Rod Stewart performed a "virtual duet" with Ella Fitzgerald on his Chri
stmas album Merry Christmas, Baby, and his television special of the same name.[
65]
There is a bronze sculpture of Fitzgerald in Yonkers, the city in which she grew
up, created by American artist Vinnie Bagwell. It is located southeast of the m
ain entrance to the Amtrak/Metro-North Railroad station in front of the city's o
ld trolley barn. A bust of Fitzgerald is on the campus of Chapman University in
Orange, California. On January 9, 2007, the United States Postal Service announc
ed that Fitzgerald would be honored with her own postage stamp.[43] The stamp wa
s released in April 2007 as part of the Postal Service's Black Heritage series.[
66]
On April 25, 2017, the centenary of her birth, UK's BBC Radio 2 broadcast three
programmes as part of an "Ella at 100" celebration: Ella Fitzgerald Night introd
uced by Jamie Cullum, Remembering Ella introduced by Leo Green and Ella Fitzgera
ld - the First Lady of Song introduced by Petula Clark.[67]
References[edit]
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^ Jump up to: a b Nicholson 1996, p. 6.
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^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k Holden, Stephen (June 16, 1996). "Ella Fitzg
erald, the Voice of Jazz, Dies at 79". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2
015.
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^ Jump up to: a b Nicholson 1996, p. 14.
^ Jump up to: a b Rich, Frank (June 19, 1996). "Journal; How High the Moon". The
New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
Jump up ^ "Ella Fitzgerald Is Born." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d.
Web. 13 Mar. 2016. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ella-fitzgerald-i
s-born>
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itzgerald's Life". The New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e Fritts, Ron; Vail, Ken (January 1, 2003). Ella Fitzgeral
d: The Chick Webb Years & Beyond. Scarecrow Press. pp. 46. ISBN 978-0-8108-4881-8
. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
^ Jump up to: a b Horton, James Oliver (March 24, 2005). Landmarks of African Am
erican History. Oxford University Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-19-514118-4. Retriev
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Jump up ^ Hemming, Roy (December 1, 1992). Discovering Great Singers of Classic
Pop: A New Listener's Guide to the Sounds and Lives of the Top Performers. Newma
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^ Jump up to: a b c Moret, Jim (June 15, 1996). "'First Lady of Song' passes pea
cefully, surrounded by family". CNN. Archived from the original on November 29,
2006. Retrieved January 30, 2007.
Jump up ^ Nicholson 1996, p. 19.
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istener's Guide to the Sounds and Lives of the Top Performers and Their Recordin
gs, Movies, and Videos. Newmarket Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-55704-072-5. Retrieve
d October 11, 2014.
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Publishing Company. 17 (1): 131132, 139. ISSN 0012-9011. Retrieved October 10, 20
14.
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fobase Publishing. p. 251. ISBN 978-1-4381-2855-9. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
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Women: A Biographical Dictionary. Harvard University Press. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-
674-01488-6. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
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Business Media, Inc. 54 (14): 67. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
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r Music. Scarecrow Press. p. 125. ISBN 9781461669722.
Jump up ^ Tyler, Don (2007). Hit Songs, 19001955: American Popular Music of the P
re-Rock Era. McFarland. p. 304. ISBN 9780786429462.
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Jump up ^ Gioia, Ted (September 27, 2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Re
pertoire. Oxford University Press. p. 307. ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4. Retrieved Oct
ober 11, 2014.
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ness Media, Inc. p. 24. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
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mpany. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
Jump up ^ Nicholson, Stuart (1993). Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of the First La
dy of Jazz. Da Capo Press. p. 149. ISBN 0-306-80642-8.
Jump up ^ Johnson Publishing Company (August 13, 1953). Jet. Johnson Publishing
Company. p. 60. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
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g Company. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
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^ Jump up to: a b c d Nicholson, Stuart (1993). Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of
the First Lady of Jazz. New York: C. Scribner's Sons. ISBN 0-575-40032-3. For ma
ny years Fitzgerald's birthdate was thought to be on the same date one year late
r in 1918 and it is still listed as such in some sources but research by Nichols
on and another biographer, Tanya Lee Stone, established 1917 as the correct year
of birth.
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and the Duke". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved March 16, 2007.
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N 0021-5996. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
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nd. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-7864-7022-8. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
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ood. Oxford University Press. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-19-979266-5. Retrieved February
23, 2014.
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k Times. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
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an). LIT Verlag Mnster. p. 61. ISBN 978-3-8258-3748-8. Retrieved February 23, 201
4.
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LGBT Chicago before Stonewall. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 213. ISBN 978-
0-299-28693-4. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
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, 2008. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
^ Jump up to: a b "New stamp honors first lady of song". USA Today. AP. January
9, 2007. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
^ Jump up to: a b Rosen, Larry (July 18, 2013). "Is It Live or Is It Memorex?".
Psychology Today. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
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December 28, 2012.
Jump up ^ "She puts the famous in focus". St. Petersburg Times. November 22, 200
5. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
Jump up ^ "On Frank Sinatra's Hair". Retrieved 26 April 2017.
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985. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
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trieved February 22, 2014.
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0. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
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essee. Reuters. April 13, 1994. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
^ Jump up to: a b Weinstein, Henry; Brazil, Jeff (June 16, 1996). "Ella Fitzgera
ld, Jazz's First Lady of Song, Dies". Los Angeles Times. pp. 13. Retrieved Februa
ry 22, 2014.
Jump up ^ Nicholson, Stuart (1995). Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of the First La
dy of Jazz. New York: Da Capo Press. pp. 6768. ISBN 0-306-80642-8.
Jump up ^ Nicholson, Stuart (1995). Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of the First La
dy of Jazz. New York: Da Capo Press. pp. 173175. ISBN 0-306-80642-8.
Jump up ^ "Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation". Ellafitzgeraldfoundation.org.
Retrieved April 25, 2013.
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manity". American History Smithsonian. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
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d Story". LOC. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
Jump up ^ "Past Winners Search". Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy. Retrieved
October 6, 2014.
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0s And '60s". Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
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the original on August 17, 2011.
Jump up ^ "Partial List of Harvard Honorary Degrees". Harvard University. Retrie
ved May 30, 2013.
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m Was 'Beneath Me'". Billboard. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
Jump up ^ "New Stamp Honors First Lady of Song". WHSV News 3. January 9, 2007. R
etrieved December 2, 2009.
Jump up ^ "Ella at 100, Ella Fitzgerald - The First Lady of Song - BBC Radio 2".
bbc.co.uk. April 25, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
General
Gourse, Leslie (1998). The Ella Fitzgerald Companion. London: Omnibus Press. ISB
N 0-7119-6916-7.
Johnson, J. Wilfred (2001). Ella Fitzgerald: An Annotated Discography. McFarland
. ISBN 0-7864-0906-1.
Nicholson, Stuart (1996). Ella Fitzgerald: 19171996. London: Indigo. ISBN 978-0-5
75-40032-0.
Further reading[edit]
Library resources about
Ella Fitzgerald
Resources in your library
Resources in other libraries
By Ella Fitzgerald
Resources in your library
Resources in other libraries
Gourse, Leslie. (1998) The Ella Fitzgerald Companion: Seven Decades of Commentar
y. Music Sales Ltd.; ISBN 0-02-864625-8
Johnson, J. Wilfred. (2001) Ella Fitzgerald: A Complete Annotated Discography. M
cFarland & Co Inc.; ISBN 0-7864-0906-1
External links[edit]
Biography portal
Music portal
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ella Fitzgerald.
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Ella Fitzgerald
Book icon
Book: Ella Fitzgerald
Official website
Ella Fitzgerald at the Internet Movie Database
Ella Fitzgerald at the Internet Broadway Database Edit this at Wikidata
Ella Fitzgerald at Find a Grave
Ella Fitzgerald at the Library of Congress
'Remembering Ella' by Phillip D. Atteberry
Listen to Big Band Serenade podcast, episode 6 Includes complete NBC remote broa
dcast of "Ella Fitzgerald & her Orchestra" from the Roseland Ballroom (or downlo
ad)
[show] v t e
Ella Fitzgerald
[show] v t e
Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year
[show] v t e
Kennedy Center Honorees (1970s)
[show] v t e
Inductees to the National Women's Hall of Fame
Authority control
WorldCat Identities VIAF: 6148211 LCCN: n83021406 ISNI: 0000 0001 0854 8546 GND:
118691554 SELIBR: 186972 SUDOC: 02945333X BNF: cb13893960w (data) ULAN: 5003554
37 MusicBrainz: 54799c0e-eb45-4eea-996d-c4d71a63c499 NDL: 00620660 NKC: jn200007
00537 ICCU: IT\ICCU\TO0V\268247 BNE: XX852316
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