#Usoe songbook full#
#Usoe songbook series#

But elements like lush strings, woodwinds and small-combo work vary the feel The sound is grounded in big band swing.Thanks to the different arrangers, each Song Book has its own sound - but they do follow some general patterns: Among the numerous awards she received are fourteen Grammys, eight honorary doctorates, the National Medal of Art, and the Presidential Freedom Award. She died at her Beverly Hills home on June 15, 1996. Heart problems, diabetes, and the strain of constant touring forced her to first slow down, then stop performing entirely by 1992. But she also loved performing live, and toured almost constantly into the 1980s.Įlla Fitzgerald’s health was never good, but she suffered a rapid decline in the late 1980s. The following year he founded Verve Records to feature her amazing voice the records Ella made for Verve and Pablo Records established her as one of the greatest singers ever.

Things changed in 1954, when Norman Granz became her manager. As swing gave way to bebop in the postwar years, Ella perfected her famous “scat singing,” using nonsense syllables in imitation of jazz instruments.Īudiences and critics alike accused Decca of wasting Ella’s obvious talents on mere novelty and pop songs. Webb died the following year, and by 1942 Ella had become a solo artist. A string of hits for the Decca label, most famously 1938’s “A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” followed. In 1935, Ella met drummer and bandleader William “Chick” Webb despite her lack of training, he quickly asked her to join his band as a featured singer. She may have been homeless when she was discovered at one of the Apollo Theater’s famed amateur nights in 1934. After her mother died in 1932, Ella lived with relatives and spent time in state orphanages. Ella and her family attended the Bethany AME Church she probably got her first singing experience in the choir there. Her mother moved her family to Yonkers, New York, in the early 1920s. Join the Great American Songbook Foundation, as we celebrate Ella with a look at the history and legacy of this iconic contribution to America's cultural history.Įlla Jane Fitzgerald was born on April 25, 1917, in Newport News, Virginia.

But a set of LPs she made for Verve Records in the late 50s and early 60s – the Ella Fitzgerald Song Book records –changed her career and American jazz music forever.įeaturing definitive versions of classic songs including 'I Got Rhythm', 'Something's Gotta Give,' and 'The Lady is a Tramp,' the Ella Fitzgerald Song Book records are a timeless masterpiece.

#Usoe songbook full#

A full century after her birth, “The First Lady of Song” is still widely regarded as one of the finest jazz singers ever known.ĭespite Ella’s undeniable gifts, for many years she was a struggling singer of novelty and bop tunes.

#Usoe songbook series#

Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong.' - Ella FitzgeraldĮlla Sings the Songbook focuses on a celebrated series of eight albums recorded for Verve Records in the 1950s and '60s, when the respected jazz singer took a new and highly successful direction interpreting works by the most beloved composers of Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and Hollywood: Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, and Johnny Mercer.Įlla Fitzgerald (1917-1996) was an artist of legendary skill, power, and talent. 'Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do.