Vocal jazz emerged in the early 1900s, around the time that the blues were becoming popular. Much of the vocal jazz repertoire comes out of the Great American Songbook, which is a collection of the most popular songs and jazz standards that have stayed favorites for many years. Scat singing came out of the New Orleans jazz tradition and is a vocalist’s way of improvising without words.
Ella Fitzgerald was known as the “First Lady of Song.” She performed all types of jazz, could imitate any instrument, and played with all of the biggest names in jazz all over the world. She was born in Virginia in 1917 and moved to New York soon after. When she was 17, she had the opportunity to compete in Amateur Night at the Apollo. After her first song, the audience demanded an encore. Everyone loved her, and she knew she wanted to sing for people for the rest of her life. She continued entering and winning every talent show she could find and was quickly hired by a band. Five years later, Ella recorded her first number-one hit, and she became famous – appearing on several television variety shows and touring all over. In 1987 She was awarded the National Medal of the Arts in the United States, followed by France awarding her the Commander of Arts and Letters award, leading to several universities distributing honorary doctorates to her. At the end of her life, she had recorded over 200 albums.
Listen to some of Ella’s work here:
A-Tisket-A-Tasket – Ella’s first #1 hit
Book: Ella (part of the Little People, Big Dreams series)
Find it at these Monroe County Public Libraries, or have it delivered to a library near you! (Hold/delivery fee is $0.25 per book)
Henrietta
Mendon
