Popular song - Jazz: Ella Fitzgerald (OCR) p122-125 Flashcards

1
Q

What was her first recording?

A

1935, “I’ll chase the blues away” with Chick Webb and his orchestra

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2
Q

Where was she brought up?

A

In Yonkers, New York (15 when her mother died)

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3
Q

Where did she learn to sing?

A

From performing gospel music in church and from popular artists of the day

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4
Q

What was regularly heard on the radio?

A

Louis Armstrong’s jazz solos on trumpet and vocals, and the hard driven swing of the Boswell Sisters (often in partnership with Bing Crosby) on record and radio

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5
Q

What contest did she enter?

A

She modelled her singing in Connee Boswell, won a talent contest at Apollo Theatre in Harlem at 17

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6
Q

What followed when winning the contest?

A

Work with the Chick Webb orchestra

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7
Q

Why was she so important to the band?

A

Her vocal contributions became important to the band’s success. While the instrumental swing numbers were popular with dancers, there were plenty of similar bands in a competitive market, it was her singing which made the band stand out and gave it more than a local profile

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8
Q

Recordings with vocals sold… than instrumental recordings

A

More

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9
Q

At a young age she became….

A

A leading figure in popular music

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10
Q

How long did she stay with the band for?

A

6 years and became leader when Webb died

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11
Q

What was her stand-out hit with Chick Webb?

A

A Tisket, A Tasket (1938), a hard swinging arrangement of a nursery rhyme from her childhood

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12
Q

Why was A Tisket A Tasket so popular to the public?

A

It sold successfully to both black and white audiences, who responded to its combination of child-like simplicity and emotional depth

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13
Q

Why was A Tisket A Tasket so popular to vocalists?

A

It set a trend for other female vocalists to look for simple melodies in order to top charts, and perhaps signalled a move away from the sophisticated artistry of the successful song composers of the 1920s and 1930s

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14
Q

What if she often referred to as?

A

The First Lady of Song

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15
Q

After a Tisket A Tasket did she top the charts?

A

Not often make the Top Ten singles charts, but her recordings always sold reliably

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16
Q

In 1954, Decca claimed that their recordings of her had sold…

A

22 million copies

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17
Q

What magazine did she regularly top for Best Female Vocalist until 1971?

A

Down Beat magazine readers’ poll

18
Q

Sing early in her career who was her manager, what did this show?

A

Moe Gale, the industry was dominated by white business men and opportunities for black singers were limited

19
Q

What could white singers have that black singers couldn’t?

A

Radio shows, blacks relied on guest appearances

20
Q

How did Gale increase her public profile?

A

Strong connections with the broadcasting company NBC

21
Q

What was the controversy that happened with Gale?

A

She performed at Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts, earning $50,000 a year by 1953, he overlooked the need to pay taxes, leaving her shocked when the US tax authorities demanded back payment

22
Q

Who took over her management?

A

Gales contact as manager expires the year of controversy, Granz took over management and payed the tax bill out of his own pocket

23
Q

What was Granz’s plan?

A

Get her to be the vocal star of his new record label, Verve, determined to prise her away from long-standing contract with Decca

24
Q

LP became established, the album format was developing, Sinatra has achieved success with…

A

albums which grouped songs under themes

25
Q

What did Granz promote in relation to Cole Porter?

A

Due to recording the pianist Oscar Peterson, for albums focusing on specific jazz composers, he was satisfied that an album of Cole Porter songs would be a commercial success, he laid the groundwork with extensive publicity, making it known Cole Porter admitted her diction

26
Q

Why did the album format suit her?

A

She was very experienced in delivering a full set in live performance. She had a huge repertoire of songs and could set down a recording with minimum rehearsal. There were enough of the Cole Porter songs available to take the unusual step of recording a double album

27
Q

Where did the recording sessions for Ella’s Cole Porter LP take place?

A

Capitol Melrose Studios in LA

28
Q

Who were the arrangements for Ella’s Cole Porter album by?

A

Buddy Bregman, Granz appointed Verve’s Head of Artists and Repertoire (A&R)

29
Q

Why was the format of the Cole Porter Songbook influential?

A

Record companies that had struggled to find new material for a 50-60 minute LP, filled up their albums with recordings of the standard

30
Q

How would singers record an album full of standards?

A

Teaming up with an arranger to create new versions of well-known songs

31
Q

What are her albums like?

A

She followed up with a series of albums devoted to particular songwriters, eg Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, and George and Ira Gershwin

32
Q

Singing style: why did she have a long career of over 50 years?

A

She had an accomplished technique - she maintained the quality of her voice for a long career

33
Q

Singing style: what sort of character did her voice have?

A

Presence, warmth and bright, youthful character

34
Q

Singing style: what is her range like?

A

Wide range, spanning over 3 octaves

35
Q

Singing style: how is her voice flexible?

A

Her voice is agile and flexible, she can move easily between registers and singing fast pieces without staining in tone and inotation

36
Q

Singing style: talk about rhythm

A

She has a sure sense of swing and lightness of rhythm. Syncopation and anticipation or delay of notes and phrases are neutral and precisely placed

37
Q

Singing style: what do composers like about her?

A

Her truthful approach to their music, she lets the melody speak for itself without adding exaggerated touches

38
Q

Singing style: talk about scat singing

A

An excellent scat singer, using her experience as a band singer and her knowledge of bebop to perform extended scat sections in her performances

39
Q

‘Lady be goodI’ what does this show in terms of vocal technique?

A

Shows her virtuoso technique and the influence of bebop on her singing in the 1940s. The long chorus in scat style sounds completely natural and holds the audience’s attention in a way that few other singers could manage

40
Q

What does she do in A Tisket A Tasket that shows true bebop style?

A

Musical quotation as part of the high paced delivery