Saturday, January 22, 2011

"One Note Samba" - Ella Fitzgerald



Factoids:

  • Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996)
    • American jazz vocalist known for her amazing diction and "horn-like" improvisational scat singing
    • Won 14 Grammy Awards
    • Greatly influenced by Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, and the Boswell Sisters
    • Had a VERY tough early childhood where she was abused by her stepfather, worked for the mafia as a lookout, put into an all-black orphanage, escaped and was homeless for quite some time
    • Made her big break at the age of 17 while singing at an amateur night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York
  • Listen to her amazing diction and how syllables seem to effortlessly fall from her mouth
  • She also throws in a musical quotation at the 5:00 minute mark to play with the audience
  • Her scat style is very indicative of  jazz instrumentalists
    • She alters the timbre of her voice just as horn player would - even mimicking how different mutes would alter the sounds of a trombone or trumpet player's instrument 

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