Good evening, Kibitzers! I’m sure you haven’t gone all day without hearing that today is Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday. I would not be at all surprised to hear that tons of people have already diaried this today, but I do not care. She is one of my very favorite singers, so skip to the comments if you are sick of Ella. This diary will get a little video-heavy below the fold.
Ella was born in Virginia in 1917, and grew up in Yonkers. She’d been a good student as a child, and wanted to be a dancer, but her mother was killed in an accident and, in her middle teens, she fled her abusive stepfather. In a long story whose like is heard way too many times in this world, she ended up in reform school, from which she ran away, and she apparently spent a couple of years singing on the street in Harlem for spare change.
When she was 17, she entered an Amateur Night contest at the Apollo Theater, intending to dance. But when she got onstage, she was too intimidated by earlier dance acts, so she sang instead. She won the first prize of $25, which encouraged her to continue to sing. In 1935, she met bandleader Chick Webb, who was dubious about her because she was “unkempt” (ya think?), but gave her a chance to sing with his band at a dance at Yale. She was so well received by both the audience and the band, she was hired as Webb’s female vocalist. She was 18.
But why am I still typing? There are dozens of recaps of her career on the internet today and I may have read them all. And so can you. (The Wikipedia entry I linked to her name above was the most... frank of any I read.) On to the music!
Since there are so very many recordings on YouTube, I decided to pick only from those with actual video. That limits how early a performance one can find; this one is from 1957. I apologize for the relentless onscreen advertising of the archivist. Sit through the instrumental break, because she’ll be back for the end.
This is a Canadian TV appearance around 1965, in which she manages to sing three songs in five minutes, starting with her very first hit. It’s a great sampler.
I love this solo Summertime, from 1968, although I also love her duet with Louis Armstrong.
Mack the Knife, featuring her Satchmo impression. ;)
Misty. I don’t know how the person recording lost the first note, but the other notes make up for it.
How High the Moon is the finale, because what could follow it? There are no-video versions that are even longer and cram in scat visits to more different pieces of music, but I do like seeing the video.
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by and tell us about your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper. Newcomers may notice that many who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.