It's the Birthday of Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald was born on April 25, 1917 and she passed away on June 15, 1996. She was known as "Lady Ella", the "Queen of Scat" and the "First Lady of Song". She with out a doubt is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century.

With a vocal range spanning three octaves, she was noted for her purity of tone, phrasing and intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. She is widely considered to have been one of the supreme interpreters of the Great American Songbook.

Over a recording career that lasted 59 years, she was the winner of 13 Grammy Awards, and was awarded the National Medal of Art by Ronald Reagan and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush.

The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books

This 16-CD set collects all of Ella Fitzgerald's Songbooks, a monumental tribute to the American popular song and its greatest composers, recorded for Verve between 1956 and 1964. There is likely no other singer possessed of the mix of talents that Fitzgerald brought to the project, a combination of sheer vocal technique, creativity in phrasing and rhythm, and fidelity to lyrics and intent. The sheer scale of the project contributes to its value, for Fitzgerald went far beyond the standard repertoire, rediscovering little-known gems by many of her subjects: Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Rodgers and Hart, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, and Duke Ellington. The discs of Ellington material still stand out, illuminated by the presence of Duke and his band. They put Ellington, a master melodist as well as a great composer, in his rightful place in the pantheon of American songwriters. --Stuart Broomer

Ella Fitzgerald @KK&R Music Blog
Ella Fitzgerald @Amazon.com