Ella Fitzgerald

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Ella Fitzgerald

• The First Lady of Song

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• Many of you have probably heard of Ella
  Fitzgerald, but how many of you have actually
  heard her? Step back in time with me and let
  yourself become captivated by the story of the
  beautiful Ella with the beautiful voice!

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Her beginning

• Ella was born on April 25, 1917 in Newport News,
  Virginia. Her mother, Tempie, and father,
  William, were not together for much longer. Ella
  and her mother soon went to Yonkers, New York
  where they lived with Tempies boyfriend. Ellas
  little sister, Frances, was born soon after.
• Money was not plentiful, and both parents worked
  very hard to attain it. Ella worked too, to
  bring some money back to the family, as a runner
  for gamblers. She had neighborhood friends, with
  whom she played baseball, danced, and sang with.
  They even got the chance to see some acts at the
  Apollo!

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• In 1932 Tempie dieda severe loss to Ella, and
  her stepfather died shortly after. After moving
  with her aunt, her unhappiness continued to
  increase and she soon began getting into trouble.
  She was sent to a reform school, where her
  caretakers constantly beat her. She left at the
  age of 15, and was forced to make the streets her
  home.

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• In 1934, Ellas name was picked to sing in
  Apollos amateur night! She thought at first
  that she would dance, but at the last minute
  decided to sing and won the audience over!

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Life on the Stage

• The quiet and shy Ella transformed when she
  walked onto the stage. She felt the love of her
  audience and decided that singing was definitely
  what she wanted to do.

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The start of something big!

• Benny Carter, a saxophonist, recognized Ellas
  talent and started introducing her to many people
  that would help her career. She was entering so
  many talent showsand winning all of them!!! She
  was introduced to Chick Webb, a drummer and band
  leader, who at first wouldnt hire her because of
  her appearance, but after she won over an
  audience at Yale University, he couldnt refuse!

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• Ellas first recording, Love and Kisses, did
  okay. She was performing with Chick and the band
  at Harlems Savoy Ballroom.
• Her rendition of If You Cant Sing it, You Have
  to Swing It was the beginning of her famous
  scatting. She began to allow herself to
  improvise and all of her listeners were truly
  amazed and captivated!

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The Infamous Ella

• At the young age of 21 she sold one million
  copies of A-Tisket A-Tasket, and was number one
  on the charts for a total of seventeen weeks!!

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• In 1939, Ella had to suffer yet another loss with
  the passing away of Chick. She took on the
  duties of bandleader and it was renamed Ella
  Fitzgerald and her Famous Band.
• She married Benny Kornegay (maybe not because of
  love, but for security), but after finding out
  that he had a criminal record she said, See ya!
  In 1946, she fell in love with bassist Ray Brown
  and the married and adopted a son.

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• Ella began performing in the Philharmonic Tour
  and worked on many occasions with Louis
  Armstrong.
• At this time she started to record her famous
  song books
• Cole Porter
• Duke Ellington
• The Gershwins
• Irving Berlin
• Rogers and Hart

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T.V. Star!

• Not only did she reign in the Jazz music world,
  but she soon became seen often on television.
• She appeared on many shows such as
• The Dinah Shore Show
• The Bing Crosby Show
• The Ed Sullivan Show
• The Frank Sinatra Show
• The Tonights Show

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The End of a Romance

• Ella and Rays schedule became so tirelessly busy
  and it put a definite strain on their marriage.
  They divorced in 1952, but remained very good
  friends.

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• Struggling against segregation and racism, Ella
  and her band faced many troubles.
• That was put to a stop when Marilyn Monroe stood
  behind Ella and had her sing and the Mocambo, and
  famous nightclub, and told the owner that if he
  let Ella sing, she would be at the front table
  every night. It worked, and Ellas fame
  skyrocketed!

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• Ella continued to work hard at her career
• She toured all over the world with people such as
  Frank Sinatra and Count Basie
• She gave often to organizations for child
  welfare, because of her deep concern

• She acclaimed too many awards and honors to
  count!
• One special one, was from President Ronald
  Reagan, who awarded her the National Medal of Arts

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• In 1986, Ella had to have bypass surgery and the
  doctors also informed her that she had diabetes
• Even though her friends and family urged her to
  slow down, she decided against them and took on a
  heavy schedule once again
• She performed her final concert at Carnegie Hall
  in 1991

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• Because the diabetes continued to get worse, she
  had to have surgery, where both of her legs were
  amputated below the knees. She never fully
  recovered
• Dear Ella passed away in her home on June 15,
  1996.

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• Ella will always be remembered for her beautiful
  voice, her outstanding improvisation, and the
  newness of her style. Her memory will live on
  generation after generation, and her music will
  never die.