Good old Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald-Musical Perfection

In an interview with Bobbie Wygant (posted below) we find that Ella didn't truly plan to be a singer. Ella says "I always wanted to be a dancer." Ella never really found out she could sing until she made a bet with her girlfriends to audition at Apolo Theatre in Harlem. So at the age of 15 Ella entered the Apollo Theatre's amateur night naturally thinking she would be dancing. 

"There I was, nervous as can be, only 15 years old with the skinniest legs you've ever seen and I froze; got cold feet. The man in charge said that I had better do something up there, so I said I wanted to sing instead. The audience was laughing," she shares. Ella decided to sing a song from an album of her mothers by Connee Boswell, called "The Object of My Affection." 

Amazingly enough, the notoriously harsh audience at the Apollo stopped laughing, and soon began clapping for more. "Three encores later, the $25 prize was mine," says Fitzgerald. From then on Ella hasn't stopped singing. She was soon dubbed the "First Lady of Song," Fitzgerald has clearly earned her title, recording about 70 long playing albums and more than 2,000 different songs on the gramophone format. She worked with fellow legendary artists such as Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman and even performed in a few movies, including "Ride 'Em Cowboy" starring Abbott and Costello. 

When Bobbie Wygant asks Ella if she would do it again, Ella shares some interesting advise. "I was told that you never want to be a part of something that goes up real fast because you meet the same people coming down. This type of career dosent happen overnight. If it happens too fast your not really prepared for it. Yo've got to work hard for it, its not easy.Its something you have to love and have patience, a good manager and people that love you and protect you. The love of the people is what makes you wana do what you wana do."  

Bobbie Wygant Interview with Ella Fitzgerald 

http://vimeo.com/27625402

Ella has a voice that is rare in its endurance and quality.  How High the Moon is a prime example. In the interview Ella shares her faith in God and says this is the way life was suppossed to be. She even tossed out the idea of going to Iran to sing "How High the Moon" just for the love of people. Well, she definitely ended up singing "How High the Moon for many adoring fans.

"How High the Moon" 

ABAB form. The song uses a descending chord progression in which the tonic turns to minor. It really follows voice leading which intensely helps a singer rely on their ear.

A-Starts with a simple melody and lyric line with light piano and drum accompaniment. 
B- Ella then jumps into improvisation on scat symbols with the initial vocal line. A quickened piano and drum accompaniment follows. 
A- Ella breaks into a scat and specific words from the initial melody integrated in her improvisations. She is never afraid to try something new in her performances. Even if that means making up words for fun.
B- The tempo then quickens and Ella takes the stage scatting with the descending chords being played underneath her. She uses scatting as a way to sound like an instrument. Ella also takes words from the original lyric line while the drums keep a steady beat underneath her and plays around with the chordal structure to her hearts content. 
The chords go from Maj7 to min7 frequently which allows improvisation and settles for an entertaining performance.

Frank Sinatra was right when he famously said, “If Ella were a musical instrument, she’d be the whole orchestra.”