Like a rusty dagger dragged across new silk, each makes the other seem more miraculous: how does the former not fall apart? how can the latter even exist in the first place? Usual gender roles are inverted: the trumpeter's frailty makes his every move appear daring, while the singer provides infallible strength. Or maybe those are the usual roles.
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A couple of months ago, I wrote an entry that said it was time for some more jazz-themed stamps. Well, I guess there was one in the pipeline while I was writing that. A stamp featuring the great Ella Fitzgerald debuted a couple of weeks ago. When I went to the post office shortly after they were released to pick up a couple of sheets, they told me they had quickly sold out them! A tribute to t...
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Since July 12 2007, according to lastfm◄, I just crossed the 100,000 songs listened to threshold. It was Ella Fitzgerald with A Sunday Kind Of Love doing the trick in turning over my listening odometer.This works out to about 152 songs a day. This seems like a lot, because it also includes my wife's listening to her ipod during that period . Since I load her ipod there isn't too much skewed in .
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...I posted this track for two reasons. My Way Back Machine is still malfunctioning. & You gotta listen To Chick Webb & His Orchestra on this track. His airy supple arrangement is the perfect vehicle for this song. Its not Ms Fitzgerald's finest hour, but hey.......it ain't a bust by any means.Whatever, the song's a lot of fun.
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Outside of a few luminaries (Joni,Janis,Grace)Classic Rock was dominated by male artists. So here's a Clasic Rock Mix, that attempts to right that wrong. To some this mix falls under the category: If you can't beat 'em Join 'em. To me it sounds more like ladies first. Millie Jackson vs.70's Rod Stewart or Toto-I'll take Millie, both times. Nina Simone Vs.Eric Burdon, that's a no brainer. Ella v...
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Called "The Lady of Swing," Ella Fitzgerald (1917 - 1996) was one of the greatest singers in all of jazz. She set the high standards by which all others are judged when singing the music called jazz. In her recording career of 59 years, Fitzgerald was the winner of 13 Grammy Awards. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Ronald Reagan and received the Presidential Medal of Free...
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I have no idea when it happened. It could have been before I moved to Alburtis in the early 80's but more than likely it happened all the while I was growing up. My family was Lutheran (religious, without being overtly religious) and they almost always voted Democrat (this is still a mystery, I would think my folks would be more in the Republican camp but hey what do I know). There are some tha...
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In 1956, Ella Fitzgerald severed all ties with Decca after 20 some years on their roster. She went over to Norman Granz's Verve label and began recording a series of albums spotlighting songs by all of the most important song writers in American musical history. Soon albums of familar and unknown songs by Kern, Gershwin, Porter, Mercer, Ellington and Berlin were garnering critical praise for Fi...
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Ella Fitzgerald's voice had its distinctive girlish qualities that stretched from d to c above high c. She also had an agility that could be quite amazing to those who never heard her taking off on one of her sugar-rush scat singing. She could also, in moments of high humor, imitate all of her colleagues in singing, from Louis Armstrong to Aretha Franklin. These imitations were meant only in fu...
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Embarking on a solo career in 1942, Ella continued recording for Decca Records long after her Chick Webb era. In 1946, she began her association with Norman Granz, appearing at his first series of Jazz At The Philharmonic. These appearances garnered a world wide admiration for Ella Fitzgerald and her remarkable artistry. And for a brief period, she appeared with her husband bassist Ray Brown's ...
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Shy in her personal life, Ella Fitzgerald had no fears in front of a microphone. When she used her three-octave range to interpret a standard, she didn't just sing another American pop song. She was raising the bar to a place where all other singers to come after her would be judged, and few have ascended to her status. Because Lady Ella could sing. One of my favorite standards, out of all the ...
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When Ella Fitzgerald passed away in 1997, the world lost a supreme vocalist and a really nice person. To hear one sample of her artistry, here is Ella at her best--"Mack the Knife" with Tommy Flanagan at the piano and Ella herself swinging mightily.
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This is my first post following the "Sunday Under the Cover" theme day, so I thought best bringing my dear Ella Fitzgerald covering Louis Armstrong's hit "Mack The Knife".What you're listening here is the proof of her improvisation geniality (no wonder she got that Grammy award for this concert).Although she messed around with the lyrics, Ella managed to elegantly take this song to the upper le...
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A Special post, just for Anna, since i didn't get her anything for Christmas...These fine folks are called "Cubees".You find them (and a lot of buddies) online at a site called Cubeecraft.You download them, cut them out, and fold them (the site claims no glue or tape is needed) to make neat little three-dimensional objets d'art.Wow! Fun!Artiness!!Wasted time out the wazoo!!!No, no, little lady ...
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I always snatch up those albums from the 60's when they had legendary jazz or classics singers do covers of pop songs. Although they are often not the singer at a career high point they are always fun to listen to. Sometimes the artist is clearly trying to get through having to sing what they consider crap or else trying to adapt the song to his style and in the process butcher it. (Dean Mart...
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