Ella Fitzgerald message. Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald's life story is the best way to show that any undertaking with sufficient perseverance will certainly come to fruition, even if initially all circumstances are against you. The cult singer was able to conquer everyone with her simplicity and musical genius, with which she was lucky to be born. But without due perseverance, her fate could have turned out quite differently. Giving my life musical art, from early childhood she was passionate about everything that happened around her. Dancing, music, singing, sports - Ella gave herself to all this without a trace, in order, in the end, to realize her own destiny. By choosing her fate, she was able to become a singer who is still considered the greatest jazz legend of the 20th century.

short biography

Ella Fitzgerald was born in one of those small American cities that can hardly be found on a map - Newport News. It happened on April 25, 1917, in Virginia. Her father, William, was not eager to document his relationship with the girl's mother, Temperance, so they lived without a formal marriage. Perhaps the birth of a child influenced the fact that he soon left the family.

Due to strong feelings, the mother and daughter leave the house and move to another American town - Yonkers, where Temperance meets a man who becomes little Ella's stepfather. Soon, in 1923, Ella has a sister, Francis. Being very devout, they all attended church regularly and studied the Bible constantly.

When Ella was 14 years old, a terrible tragedy happened - her beloved mother died of a heart attack. Out of worries, the girl quarrels with her stepfather and leaves him for a relative - Aunt Virginia. Being completely unsupervised, Ella leaves school and gets a job as a servant in brothel, where it begins to gradually sink to the bottom of society. Constant communication with thieves and gangsters of various stripes had a detrimental effect on the girl. The police, having discovered a homeless teenager, identified her in a shelter in the Bronx. Soon she is transferred to a boarding school for girls located in the Hudson, but she does not stay there for a long time, preferring a homeless life to strict rules.

In 1934, Ella Fitzgerald wanted to try her hand at dancing, choosing the free Amateur Nights competition for this. After learning about the very strong rival dancers, she changed her mind. This act radically turned Ella Fitzgerald's life upside down. Remembering her favorite childhood performer - Connie Boswell, the girl decided to sing the song "The Object of My Affection". A benevolent audience allowed Ella to perform two songs, although from strong commotion she lost her voice and had to start over the first tune. According to the results of the audience sympathy, she managed to get around her rivals. This moment can be considered her formation as a singer, since for the victory she got the opportunity to perform at Apollo, the cultural and musical center of that time.

At the beginning of 1935, a key event for Ella takes place, she is introduced to Chick Webb, the talented founder of a successful big band. Being critical of Ella as a performer, he nevertheless signs an agreement with her, allowing the girl to perform with his orchestra. From that moment on, Fitzgerald performed with the Webb team, and when he died in 1936, the singer took his place, changing the name of the orchestra to "Ella and Her Famous Orchestr" (Ella and her Famous Orchestra).

Taking the direction of popular music, the team performed until 1942. Playing only pop music for the needs of the public, they could not grow into something serious, so the collapse of the band was quite predictable.

From that moment on, the young singer decides to try her hand at a solo career and she manages to conclude a lucrative contract with Decca Records. This collaboration has brought some of Ella's greatest performances to the world, including Flying Home and Oh, Lady Be Good!.

Starting in 1945, Fitzgerald decides to grow even higher in his career plan. She parted ways with Decca Records and began recording under a new brand - Verve Records, created by manager Norman Granz especially for her. This time becomes truly golden for her. Fitzgerald improvises in different styles: jazz, be-bop, pop, bringing into her singing the technique of scat, which she turns out to be truly virtuoso. The singer gained incredible popularity, with which few could compete, giving dozens of concerts throughout America.

In 1972, the singer began to cooperate with the Pablo Records label, since the old one, Verve Records, was bought out by MGM. Many of the compositions recorded during this time are considered the best in Fitzgerald's work.

Starting in 1993, Ella stops performing and spends all her time in a house in Beverly Hills. chained to wheelchair, she is up to last day rejoiced in life. In 1966, Ella Fitzgerald left our world.

Interesting Facts

• The singer was not tall - only 1 m 64 cm.
• She learned a significant part of her skill from the recordings of Connie Boswell, her childhood favorite singer. Trying to copy her style of performance, she considered her her muse.

• She received the Grammy Award 13 times.
• The Fitzgerald family was adherents of the Methodist Church and professed the religion of Methodism.
• If not for the persistence of Charles Linton, Ella would never have agreed to take on the first audition, her appearance was too unpresentable.
• Private music archive The singer is kept in the US National Library.
• She repeatedly occupied and firmly held the top lines of the charts with her compositions, such as "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" and "I'm Making Believe".
• Starting from the mid-70s, the singer began to gradually lose her former charm of her voice. Despite this, she continued to perform, slightly changing her singing style and making it more harsh and abrupt.
• Fitzgerald's unusually wide range covered almost 3 octaves. Not everyone opera singers could boast like that. Not surprisingly, many of them considered Ella an outstanding performer.
• Another master of jazz, Frank Sinatra, who became a fan of her work, highly appreciated Ella's skill.
• She received her respectful nickname "The First Lady of Jazz" for her skill and virtuoso voice.
• Thanks to her outstanding diligence, she recorded more than 90 albums during her life.
• She starred in commercials, in particular, for KFC.

• Fitzgerald was a great imitator of Louis Armsrong's singing.
• Performing not only jazz, but also its variety - bebop, Ella masterfully succeeded in improvisation, which is the basis for this style.
• At the end of life, due to the syndrome diabetic foot Ella developed gangrene, so doctors had to amputate both of her legs.
• Sinatra and Fitzgerald have been in contact for a long time, but they never had a single project together.
• She participated in charity, donating large sums money to various organizations.
• The singer was honored with thanks and a handshake from US President Ronald Reagan.
• In America, a postage stamp dedicated to the memory of the performer was issued.
• In the city of Newport News there is a theater named after the singer.

The best songs

« love and kisses"- a bright composition with a classic improvisational introduction, passing by different instruments recorded in 1934 with the orchestra by Chick Webb.

"Love and Kisses" (listen)

« You'll Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini)", an improvisational song, was recorded in 1934. It is here that Fitzgerald begins to apply his scat technique.

"You'll Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini)" (listen)

« A-Tisket, A-Tasket"- a simple song performed by Ella, which made her truly famous. A brilliant new arrangement of a simple chant about a lost basket. A soft voice with bright accents leaves a truly unforgettable impression.

« I Found My Yellow Basket”- a semantic continuation of the composition“ A-Tisket, A-Tasket ”, where Ella sings that the lost yellow basket was nevertheless found.

« flying home" - one of best songs singers. The arrangement was made by Vic Schoen in 1945, and this piece was recognized as an outstanding composition of the 40s.

"Flying Home" (listen)

« Oh, Lady Be Good!» - lyric song, which became a hit, with great phrasing and performance.

"Oh Lady Be Good!" (listen)

« Mack the Knife"- this composition was sung by Ella so incomparably that the singer received two Grammy awards for it.

"Mack the Knife" (listen)

"Today" (1952);

"Sunday Showcase" (1959-1960);

"The Tender Game" (1958);

Amanti (1968);

The Joe Bishop Show (1967-1969);

"Remember When..." (1981);

"Omnibus" (1967-2003).

The difficult personal life of "Lady Jazz"

Like many talented people, the singer's personal life was rather difficult. The harsh childhood and youth led to the fact that Fitzgerald chose her partners among the disadvantaged elements of society. So, the first person with whom she officially connected her life was Benny Kornegay, a street seller of illegal drugs, who moonlights in the port. The couple signed in 1941, but did not even live together for two years.

The next marriage attempt took place in 1947, and Ella approached the choice of the second half much more carefully. Acquainted in 1946 with double bassist Ray Brown and met less than a year, the couple decided to officially sign. In addition, they adopted Ella's half-sister's son, naming him Ray Brown Jr. Having been married for six years, Ella divorced her husband, as the constant workload did not leave any time for joint support. They parted by mutual agreement and continued to cooperate even after the divorce.

The third marriage is tentatively dated 1957. Almost nothing is known about him, except that Fitzgerald's husband was a Norwegian named Thor Larsen. After some time, he committed theft, so the marriage was instantly annulled, since such news could have a negative impact on the singer's career. Any mention of him was immediately deleted by Ella's manager Norman Granz.

Being rather closed, modest and shy, Ella Fitzgerald never talked about her personal life. Only son Ray and his daughter Alice were close to Fitzgerald in the last moments of her life.

Ella Jane Fitzgerald(Ella Jane Fitzgerald) is an American jazz singer, also known as "Lady Ella" and "The First Lady of Song". She was born on April 25, 1917 in Newport News, Virginia, USA.

With a voice spanning three octaves, Fitzgerald is considered one of the greatest female vocalists in jazz history. At the very least, no one could surpass her in mastery of the technique of voice improvisation - singing with a scat. She is the owner of fourteen Grammy awards, the author of 250 albums. In total, more than 100 million of her records have been sold.

Ella was born into a poor Negro family. Because of your bad financial situation stepfather with mother and girl moved to the suburbs of New York, where the mother found a job in the laundry. In New York, Ella got into an unpleasant story, after which she was sent to a correctional home for girls. From there she fled, but did not hurry home, instead she lived on the streets. In 1934, Ella decided to take part in an amateur competition. She was going to dance, but, confused, she sang the song "Judy". She sang - and received the first prize of $ 25.

She became interested in jazzman Benny Carter, who made the first attempts to attach Ella Fitzgerald. He introduced the girl to the leader of the jazz band, Chick Webb. She didn't impress him, but Chick agreed to have her perform one night's concert with his jazz band. The concert went well, and in 1935 Ella was already a full-time vocalist in Chick Webb's orchestra.

Ella was lucky - she was pushed to success, she was helped. Both on stage and in life, she hardly cared about her appearance. Easy disposition and optimism made her pleasant to talk to. Chick Webb and his wife did not have their own children, and therefore they sheltered Ella and treated her like their own daughter.

In 1935, Ella Fitzgerald's first record, Love and Kisses, was released, which brought the singer a fee of only $ 25, the same as in an amateur competition. And three years later, the old folk song "Yellow Basket", arranged in jazz style, has already been published in a circulation of one million copies.

Chick Webb died in 1939. By unanimous decision, Ella Fitzgerald leads his jazz orchestra. The popularity of the singer continued to grow. Ella has collaborated and performed with many prominent people, for example, Louis Armstrong, Kaun Basie. Her Werve recordings are considered the most successful of her career, and the live recording of "Mackey the Knife" at a concert in Berlin (when she forgot the lyrics and came up with her own) is often cited as a great improvisation.

All her life, Ella remained shy, lonely and withdrawn. In 1971, Ella almost went blind. Until the end of her life, she saw with only one eye. In 1985, due to lung problems, her concert tour was interrupted. In the early 1990s, she suffered a heart attack, and because of the aggravation of her diabetes, both legs were amputated to her knee. The first Lady of Jazz died on June 15, 1996 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.

In one of the songs that were very popular at the time, there were words that Ella Fitzgerald sang with a special feeling: “The Lord will manage everything, and the main thing is not how long you live, but how ...”. These words fully symbolize the life of the singer herself.

Ella Fitzgerald is an outstanding US singer, "the first lady of jazz", who has a mezzo-soprano voice with a range of 3 octaves. For fifty years musical career released 90 records, selling 40 million copies. Winner of many awards, including the Order of Arts and Letters, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Grammy. Collaborated with Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Quincy Jones. Known for the compositions "Cry Me A River", "I'm Making Believe", "Oh, Lady Be Good!" and Flying Home.

Ella's childhood passed in the poverty of the New York slums, where the singer fell in love with church chants and developed her talent by learning gospels. Fitzgerald was fond of dancing, sports, and was a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. As a teenager, Ella worked as a caretaker brothel dropping out of school after the death of his mother. At the same time, the singer took the first step in her professional career as a singer - she participated in the "Amateur Nights" competition at the Harlem Apollo Theater and won.

Ella Fitzgerald's first performance with the Tiny Bradshaw Jazz Orchestra took place at the same theater in 1935, and the recording of the song "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" in 1938 brought the singer success.

Until 1942, as part of the Ella and Her Famous Orchestra, the singer performed pop-jazz songs. In the 1940s, Ella moved from swing to bebop and collaborated with trumpeter-improviser Dizzy Gillespie, using scat vocalizations that mimic the sound of instruments. In the 1950s, Ella released her debut album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook on Verve Records. The album was the first in the commercially successful Great American Songbook series of records in which the singer presented the work of a particular poet or composer. In the late 50s and early 60s, the performer worked extensively with Louis Armstrong, as well as with the Count Basie Orchestra. Experts noted this stage as significant and outstanding in Fitzgerald's musical career.

In the 60s, Fitzgerald's concert activity came to naught, at which time she recorded compilations and the album "Misty Blue" in the country style. The 1972 record "Jazz at Santa Monica Civic" 72 "was a great success, after which Ella began working with pianist Tommy Flanagan, guitarist Joe Pass, double bassist Keter Betts.

After a performance on German television in 1975, music experts noted the deterioration of the singer's vocal abilities. Due to health problems, concert activity had to be stopped, and in 1993, due to complications caused by diabetes, the singer's legs were amputated. In 1996, Ella Fitzgerald died at home in California.

While recording songs and studio albums Ella managed to tour 40 to 45 weeks a year in the United States and abroad under the direction of Norman Grantz. He greatly helped to strengthen her position as one of the leading jazz performers.

In the mid-1950s, Fitzgerald became the first African American to perform at Mocambo. Marilyn Monroe helped, lobbying for her interests, which played an important role in Ella's career.

There are a few live albums on Verve, which are highly regarded by critics. Yes, in the album. Ella at the Opera House showing a typical Fitzgerald with JATP. Albums Ella in Rome and Twelve Nights In Hollywood became the vocal canons of jazz. Ella in Berlin still one of the best-selling albums, it includes the Grammy-winning performance "Mack the Knife", in which she forgets the lyrics but admirably improvises to compensate.

Verve Records was sold to MGM in 1963 for $3 million and in 1967 MGM did not renew Fitzgerald's contract. For the next five years, she flitted between Atlantic, Capitol and Reprise. Her recordings at the time represented a departure from the typical jazz repertoire. For the Capitol she recorded an album of hymns Brighten the Corner, an album of traditional carols Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas, an album influenced by country and western misty blue and a series of six medleys 30 by Ella than fulfilled its obligations to the label. During this period, Ella Fitzgerald released a charting single with a cover of "Get Ready" by Smokey Robinson (formerly a hit by The Temptations).

The surprise was the success in 1972 of the album Jazz at Santa Monica Civic"72, which prompted Granz to found Pablo Records, his new label after selling Verve. Fitzgerald has recorded about 20 albums for this label. Ella in London recorded in 1974 with pianist Tommy Flanagan, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Keter Betts and drummer Bobby Durham, considered by many to be one of her finest work. The following year, she again performed with Joe Pass on the German TV channel NDR in Hamburg. Ella's years on Pablo Records are also marked by the decline of her voice. "She often uses short, stabbing phrases, her voice used to be stronger, with a wider vibrato," wrote one biographer. Worried about health problems, Fitzgerald made her last recordings in 1991 and last public speaking in 1993.

by the most famous musicians Ella Fitzgerald collaborated with trumpeter Louis Armstrong, guitarist Joe Pass, bandleaders Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

She also collaborated with many jazz musicians during her long career. Trumpeters Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie, guitarist Herb Ellis, pianists Tommy Flanagan, Oscar Peterson, Lou Levy, Paul Smith, Jimmy Rawls and Ellis Larkins all worked with Ella mostly on the air.

Personal life

Fitzgerald married at least twice, and there is evidence that she may have done so a third time. In 1941, she married Benny Kornegay, a convicted drug dealer and local dock worker. The marriage was annulled two years later.

Her second marriage, in December 1947, was to famed bass player Ray Brown, whom she had met on tour with Dizzy Gillespie's band the year before. Together they adopted a child born to Fitzgerald's sister Frances, whom they christened Ray Brown Jr. Fitzgerald and Brown were often on tour and recording sessions, and her aunt Virginia took care of the child to a large extent. Fitzgerald and Brown divorced in 1953, although they continued to perform together.

In July 1957, Reuters reported that Fitzgerald had secretly married a young Norwegian, Thor Einar Larsen, in Oslo. She even went so far as to rent an apartment in Oslo, but the matter was quickly forgotten when Larsen was sentenced to five months hard labor in Sweden for stealing money.

As you know, Ella Fitzgerald was very shy. Trumpeter Mario Bauza, who played with her in the band Chick Webb, recalled that "she didn't talk much. When she got into the band, she was only interested in music.... She was a lonely girl in New York."

Suffering from the effects of diabetes, Fitzgerald's vision was weak, due to this disease her legs were amputated in 1993. In 1996, she died on June 15 from an illness in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 79. She is buried in Inglewood Cemetery, California. Archival material from her long career is located at National Museum Smithsonian Institution American history, and musical recordings in the Library of Congress. Her extensive collection of cookbooks was donated to the Harvard University Library, and a collection of her sheet music is in the Los Angeles Library.

Ella Fitzgerald - Mack the Knife

Ella Fitzgerald "Jazz in Montreux" "79 Flying Home"

Ella Fitzgerald

Discography

Decca
1950
Ella Sings Gershwin
1954
Songs in a Mellow Mood
Lullabies of Birdland
1955
For Sentimental Reasons (A collection of previously available recordings from the late 1940s and early 1950s)
Miss Ella Fitzgerald & Mr Gordon Jenkins Invite You to Listen and Relax (A collection of previously available recordings from the late 1940s and early 1950s)
sweet and hot

Verve
1956
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook
Ella and Louis (with Louis Armstrong)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook
1957
Ella and Louis Again (with Louis Armstrong)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook (with Duke Ellington) – Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance, Soloist
Ella at the Opera House (Live)
Like Someone in Love
Porgy and Bess (with Louis Armstrong)
1958
Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at Newport (Live) (Reissued with tracks featuring Carmen McRae in 2001)
Ella Swings Lightly – Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance, Soloist
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook – Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Ella in Rome: The Birthday Concert (Live) (Released in 1988)
Ella Fitzgerald live at Mister Kelly's (Live) (Released in 2007)
1959
Get Happy!
Ella Fitzgerald Sings Sweet Songs for Swingers
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook – Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
1960
Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife (Live) – Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
hello love
Ella Fitzgerald Sings Songs from Let No Man Write My Epitaph (Available on CD as The Intimate Ella)
1961
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook
Ella in Hollywood (Live)
Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!
Ella Returns to Berlin (Live) (Released in 1991)
Twelve Nights In Hollywood (Live) (Released in 2009)
1962
Rhythm Is My Business
Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson – Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Ella Swings
1963
Ella Sings Broadway
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook
Ella and Basie! (with Count Basie)
These Are the Blues
1964
Hello Dolly!
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook
Ella at Juan-Les-Pins (Live)
Ella in Japan: "S Wonderful (Live) (Released in 2011)
1965
Ella in Hamburg (Live)
Ella at Duke's Place (with Duke Ellington)
1966
Whisper Not
Ella and Duke at the Cote D "Azur (Live) (with Duke Ellington)

Capitol
1967
Brighten the Corner
Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas
1968
30 by Ella
misty blue

MPS Records
1969
Sunshine of your Love (Live)

Reprise
1969
Ella
1970
Things Ain't What They Used to Be (And You Better Believe It)

Atlantic
1972
Ella Loves Cole (Released on the Pablo label as Dream Dancing)

Columbia
1973
Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall (Live)

Pablo
1966
The Stockholm Concert, 1966 (Live) (with Duke Ellington) (Released in 1984)
1967
The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World (Live) (with Duke Ellington) (Released in 1990)
1970
Ella in Budapest, Hungary (Live) (Released in 1999)
1971
Ella a Nice (Live)
1972
Jazz at Santa Monica Civic"72 (Live)
1973
Take Love Easy (with Joe Pass)
1974
Fine and Mellow (Released in 1979) – Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal
Ella in London (Live)
1975
Ella and Oscar (with Oscar Peterson)
Montreux"75 (Live)
1976
Fitzgerald and Pass... Again (with Joe Pass) – Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal
1977
Montreux"77 (Live)
1978
lady time
Dream Dancing (First released on the Atlantic label as Ella Loves Cole)
1979
Digital III at Montreux (Live) – Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female
A Classy Pair (with Count Basie)
A Perfect Match (Live) (with Count Basie) – Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female
1981
Ella Abraça Jobim
1982
The Best Is Yet to Come – Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female
1983
Speak Love (with Joe Pass)
Nice Work If You Can Get It (with André Previn)
1986
Easy Living (with Joe Pass)
1989
All That Jazz – Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female
2001
Sophisticated Lady (Live) (with Joe Pass) (recorded in 1975, 1983)

Notable guest appearances
1953
JATP In Tokyo - Live at the Nichigeki Theater 1953" (Live in Tokyo with Jazz at the Philharmonic)
1955
Songs from Pete Kelly's Blues
1956
Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl (Live in Hollywood with Jazz at the Philharmonic)
1957
One O "Clock Jump (with Count Basie and Joe Williams)
Classic Duets (Three duets with Frank Sinatra, recorded for the 1957 ABC television The Frank Sinatra Show; released in 2002 by Capitol Records.
1983
Jazz at the Philharmonic – Yoyogi National Stadium, Tokyo 1983: Return to Happiness (Live in Tokyo with Jazz at the Philharmonic)
1989
Back on the Block (Qwest Records)

Boxed sets and collections
1994 The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Songbooks
1995 Ella: The Legendary Decca Recordings
1997 The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve

The great American jazz singer, who was called both the "First Lady of Jazz" and "Lady Ella", is known throughout the world. It's about Ella Jane Fitzgerald. She is the greatest female vocalist in the history of jazz, with a unique voice spanning three octaves. "Lady Ella" masterfully mastered the technique of vocal improvisation and remained unsurpassed in this.

Ella Fitzgerald's childhood and family

Fitzgerald's hometown is Newport News. Her parents - simple people: mother worked as a laundress, and father as a worker. Ella was very young when her father left the family. The mother, taking her daughter with her, moved to New York, where she soon married. The stepfather was an immigrant from Portugal. The family was devout, so they often attended church. It was there that, as a girl, Fitzgerald first heard church hymns, which made a considerable impression on her.

Ella's mother died in 1932. Until that time, the girl regularly attended school, was an exemplary student. Often, being a cheerful child, she danced and sang in the yard, giving impromptu concerts for the children. Ella was able to imitate voices the most popular singers. With her friend Charles Gulliver, she enthusiastically danced the most fashionable dances.

After Ella's mother died, she moved in with her aunt in Harlem. The girl dropped out of school and almost constantly disappeared on the street. In the evenings, Fitzgerald moonlighted by dancing in clubs. This went on for two years, and in 1934 the girl left home.

Ella Fitzgerald: the beginning of a career

In the fall of 1934, the Apollo Cinema hosted an amateur competition run by disc jockey and commentator Ralph Cooper. Ella decided to take part in it as a dancer, but during the preliminary audition it turned out that her rivals in the same role would be the Edwards sisters, who performed as a duet and were already known by that time. This was the reason that the girl decided to change her role, Ella sang.

Ella Fitzgerald - Summertime (1968)

The success was overwhelming. Two compositions were performed by her with such a strong voice that the amazed audience literally exploded with applause. During the performance, she was accompanied by the Benny Carter Orchestra. Soon Ella again participated in the competition and won again. As a bonus, she performed with the Tiny Brad Show Orchestra for a week.

Ella Fitzgerald's first songs

We can say that the professional career of the singer began in January 1935, when Fitzgerald sang on the stage of the Harlem Theater. Benny Carter introduced her to Chick Webb, with whom they signed a contract and began performing together. Webb's orchestra was by then considered one of the best. For the singer, he became the first step in his career. Together with the big band, Ella performed for seven years. In 1935, they recorded the first record together, the release of which immediately attracted attention to the modest singer.

In 1939, Chick Webb passed away. Ella took the main place in the orchestra. Until 1942, more than one and a half hundred tracks were recorded. In 1942, the singer decided to leave the big band and start a solo career.

Solo career of singer Ella Fitzgerald

Trying to find her way in jazz, Ella went headlong into a creative search. At that time, she was not considered a jazz singer at all, but an hyped and famous pop star. Her path to jazz was not easy and long. Knowing how to young years imitate the singing of Louis Armstrong, she did not yet feel a jazz flavor. The desire to sing jazz came to her much later. The decisive influence on her was the frequent communication with Armstrong, Basie, Ellington and jazz youth, who, like Ella, was looking for new creative ways.

Ella Fitzgerald: One note Samba (scat singing) 1969

By the mid-40s, Fitzgerald became a different singer, she no longer wanted to perform someone else's songs, did not want to imitate other people's improvisations. Ella felt that she was ready to improvise herself and she had something to say to the public. At the end of the war, the era of bebop began, the era of a different kind of jazz. Soon the world discovered a new jazz star. Ella, with her singing, blurred the boundaries between the instrument and the voice, she knew how to create vocal improvisations for a syllable (scat). She brought this virtuoso technique to perfection.

The 1960s saw the peak of her creative career. Fitzgerald's manager and her firm guiding hand was Norman Granz, thanks to whom the singer's personal label, Verve Records, was created, which became a key label for her in life. Released in 1956 solo album Ella, who brought unprecedented fame. This was followed by the release of several more albums. Fitzgerald began to perform not only in the United States, she went on tour to many countries.

The last years of Ella Fitzgerald's life, cause of death

The singer's voice deteriorated in the mid-70s. She has practically stopped performing and recording since 1991. In 1993, she gave her final concert in San Francisco. Ella Fitzgerald with her second husband Ray Brown

Despite the breaking of family ties between Ella and Ray, their musical collaboration did not stop. In addition, the former spouses were connected by Ella's nephew, adopted by them in marriage, who was given the name Ray Jr. When the boy grew up, he decided, like his adoptive parents, to connect life with music. In 1957, the press wrote a lot about the alleged marriage of the singer with Thor Larsen. This information has remained at the level of rumors.