Table of Contents
AVAILABLE UP CLOSE TITLES:
RACHEL CARSON by Ellen Levine
JOHNNY CASH by Anne E. Neimark
ELLA FITZGERALD by Tanya Lee Stone
ROBERT F. KENNEDY by Marc Aronson
ELVIS PRESLEY by Wilborn Hampton
JOHN STEINBECK by Milton Meltzer
OPRAH WINFREY by Ilene Cooper
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT by Jan Adkins
FUTURE UP CLOSE TITLES:
W. E. B. DU BOIS by Tonya Bolden
BILL GATES by Marc Aronson
JANE GOODALL by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
HARPER LEE by Kerry Madden
THURGOOD MARSHALL by Chris Crowe
BABE RUTH by Wilborn Hampton
For Sarah and Leah, with love.
May all of your dreams come true.
Authors Note
ELLA FITZGERALD WAS a megastar, but she kept her private life incredibly close. There has always been a mystique surrounding this legend. She was a private soul, protective of the details that made up her life. This fact led to major challenges in researching her story. Thankfully, sorting it all out was made infinitely less daunting by historian and jazz expert Stuart Nicholsons essential book for adults, Ella Fitzgerald: The Complete Biography. Most previous accounts of Ellas life were muddied by misinformation, exaggerations, and half-truths, many of which were intended to clean up what was a somewhat messy start to life. But the Nicholson biography sets the record straight on many anecdotes of Ellas history. I would like to thank Mr. Nicholson, both for writing an excellent account of Ellas life, and for offering feedback on this book.
Foreword
I GREW UP NEAR New Haven, Connecticut, a city close enough to New York City to be a stop on many a musicians tour schedule. New Haven was, and still is, a hot spot for all kinds of music. Yale Universitys Woolsey Hall hosted the best of the best in the music world, and my father made sure we were exposed to a lot of it. From the time I was so young my legs dangled from the seats, I visited Woolsey Hall and heard both the Yale and New Haven Symphony orchestras multiple times, and was lucky enough to be introduced to a variety of music that included the lyrical classical guitar of Andrs Segovia, the exuberant marching-band music of John Philip Sousa, and the red-hot jazz of Dizzy Gillespie. Ill never forget the sheer fun of seeing Dizzys trademark move in actionhe puffed his cheeks out huge and round as he wailed on his trumpet!
New Haven is also home to a world-class jazz festival. I used to go to the festival with my friends from the performing arts high school where I was a music major studying voice. We soaked up everything we could about music history and theory, we played in ensemblesjazz and classical, vocal and instrumental and bounded off to the jazz festival together to take in the sights and sounds of the hippest folks in the industry. It was a trip! I still have the now-faded posters from those jazz festivals. They hung on my walls in high school and traveled with me for dorm-room decorations at Oberlin Collegewhere I studied voice at the Conservatory of Music. I didnt realize the full impact of just how fortunate I was to have grown up in New Haven to hear those greats live and in person until much later, reading the many names off those old posters that cataloged a veritable Whos Who of jazz.
Even though I trained as a classical vocalist, I was way into Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughanand of course, Ella Fitzgerald. Theirs were the songs I gravitated toward when given the chance to sidle up to a piano bar. There is no doubt that my comrades taste in music influenced me. Theres nothing like a wild-eyed guy all hopped up on Sonny Rollins and Artie Shaw to make a girl sit up and take notice.
Jay Rowe, a jazz-piano student at the timeand now a great pianisthad an infectious passion for all that was jazz. He couldnt wait to play me a Dave Brubeck album or marvel at the fact that I hadnt ever heard Charlie Parker (a.k.a., the Bird) blow. I havent seen Jay for more than twenty-five years, but if I close my eyes I can still see the smile that took over his entire face when he listened to, or even talked about, jazz. Man, it was infectious! It had me wanting to say cat and gig.
And Ill never forget hearing Ella sing for the first time. On went the record and out came this voice that sounded like butterscotch. It permeated the room, mesmerizing me with its soothing tone. From then on, anytime I wanted to change my mood and feel calm or peaceful, an Ella album would be one of the first things I would reach for. All of these memories flooded over me as I started to research Ella Fitzgeralds life and treat my ears to her smooth, velvety tone. I am proud to be able to contribute to the body of literature about this American icon of jazz.
Introduction
ON JUNE 12, 1935, Ella Fitzgerald walked into the Decca recording studios. Just a little more than six months earlier, a teenage Ella was living on the streets of New York, scraping to get by. She struggled just to have enough to eat and a clean place to sleep. But by summer, everything had changed. She was singing with a band. A big band. A successful band.
It must have been excitingand probably a bit overwhelming, too. One minute she was homeless. The next, she was poised to be a star. Her voice, smooth as silk, pure as honey, had given her a new home with the Chick Webb Band. Ella was ready to make her first record. The song was Love and Kisses, and with lively horns accompanying her, Ellas young voice carried the song with an innocence that made it instantly appealing.
Love and kisses, never misses,
making a heaven for two.
With the tender, sweet surrender,
coming from someone like you.
When the record was released, Ella was on tour with the Chick Webb Band. The group was in Philadelphia and she was itching to hear her song. There was a jukebox at a nearby bar, but she was too young to be let in to a place that served alcohol. Determined to hear it, Ella had someone else go in and put money in the jukebox for her. Then she stood outside the door, listening. Hearing her own voice on a record for the first time must have been profound. Ella couldnt have known that that first cut was just the beginning of a long, illustrious recording career.
Hear what some of her colleagues, friends, and admirers had to say about Ella Fitzgerald.
Producer Quincy Jones: When you listen to Ella, you hear a jazz musician interpreting the melody, blending variations of phrasing, melody, rhythm and spontaneous improvisation. She could use her exquisite, very human voice just like a saxophone, sometimes like a violin, sometimes like a trumpet.
Singer Mel Torm: Male or female, she was it. She was the best singer on the planet.
Singer Johnny Mathis: She was the best there ever was. Amongst all of us who sing. She was the best.
Pianist Lou Levy: Ella was divine. You cant get better than that. It will never be that good again.
Entertainer Bing Crosby: Man, woman and child, Ella Fitzgerald is the greatest!
