WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.259 Okay, let's unpack this deep dive into one of 00:00:02.259 --> 00:00:04.900 the most transformative voices in 20th century 00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:08.220 music, Ella Fitzgerald. For most people, she 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:11.339 doesn't just hold one title. She holds, well, 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:15.259 a triumvirate. The first lady of song, the queen 00:00:15.259 --> 00:00:18.579 of jazz, and simply, Lady Ella. It's an unusual 00:00:18.579 --> 00:00:21.079 level of universal acclaim, isn't it? And it 00:00:21.079 --> 00:00:23.059 speaks volumes about her cultural footprint. 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:25.039 It really does. And what we pulled out of these 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:27.820 sources for you, the listener, is the clear distinction 00:00:27.820 --> 00:00:31.679 between those celebrity titles and the raw genius 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:33.880 that earned them. Right. Her greatness wasn't 00:00:33.880 --> 00:00:37.320 just about star power. It was about truly unparalleled 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:40.399 technical mastery. When critics talk about Ella 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:42.479 Fitzgerald, they always, and I mean always, highlight 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:45.560 the same core features. Absolute pitch, a purity 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:47.659 of tone that was almost crystalline and critically 00:00:47.659 --> 00:00:50.759 that famous impeccable diction. That clarity 00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:53.000 is what allowed her to cross genres so easily. 00:00:53.179 --> 00:00:55.219 I mean, she could sing the most complex jazz 00:00:55.219 --> 00:00:57.719 tune or the simplest nursery rhyme, but she was 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:00.079 surgically precise about how she delivered every 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:03.420 single syllable. And that precision extended 00:01:03.420 --> 00:01:06.319 to her rhythm and phrasing. Her timing was just 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:08.659 impeccable. And then you layer on top of that 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:11.599 her signature gift, the improvisational ability. 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:14.040 The scat singing. The scat singing. Her voice 00:01:14.040 --> 00:01:16.200 could mimic a brass instrument, a saxophone, 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:18.989 a trumpet. She could literally turn her vocal 00:01:18.989 --> 00:01:22.469 cords into a virtuoso horn solo. That style is 00:01:22.469 --> 00:01:25.189 the musical thesis of her career. But our mission 00:01:25.189 --> 00:01:28.349 in this deep dive is to look at the entire arc. 00:01:28.530 --> 00:01:31.030 We are tracing the journey from a difficult, 00:01:31.209 --> 00:01:34.950 even tumultuous adolescence, surviving as a street 00:01:34.950 --> 00:01:37.370 singer in Harlem, a reality she worked hard to 00:01:37.370 --> 00:01:39.689 obscure. A reality she never spoke about. Right. 00:01:39.769 --> 00:01:42.989 From that to becoming the strategic force who 00:01:42.989 --> 00:01:45.590 shaved the entire American musical canon, we 00:01:45.590 --> 00:01:47.689 are unpacking the sources to understand that 00:01:47.689 --> 00:01:49.989 transformation. It's not just a story of musical 00:01:49.989 --> 00:01:53.469 history. but a profound cultural and social transaction 00:01:53.469 --> 00:01:56.030 she performed over 50 years. A huge transaction, 00:01:56.290 --> 00:01:58.769 yeah. So to understand the elegance of Lady Ella, 00:01:58.870 --> 00:02:00.909 we absolutely must start with the sheer contrast 00:02:00.909 --> 00:02:03.450 of her beginning. This is a hardscrabble origin 00:02:03.450 --> 00:02:06.310 story that Ella Fitzgerald rarely, if ever, talked 00:02:06.310 --> 00:02:09.289 about publicly. Not at all. She was born Ella 00:02:09.289 --> 00:02:13.050 Jane Fitzgerald on April 25, 1917, in Newport 00:02:13.050 --> 00:02:15.500 News, Virginia. And the sources show us a life 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:17.960 that began moving almost immediately. They do. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.919 Her parents, William Ashland Fitzgerald, a transfer 00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:23.620 wagon driver, and Temperance Fitzgerald, they 00:02:23.620 --> 00:02:25.360 weren't married but lived together for a couple 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:28.620 of years. And for historical context, the 1920 00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:31.479 census, which we examined, listed both of them 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:34.219 using the racial classification of mulatto. Wow. 00:02:34.599 --> 00:02:37.159 It's a harsh reminder of the systemic way race 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:39.580 was cataloged at the time, even on official documents. 00:02:39.860 --> 00:02:42.960 It really is. Shortly after that, things shifted. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:45.840 Her mother and a new partner, Joseph da Silva, 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:48.620 who was a Portuguese immigrant, moved the family 00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:51.139 north. They settled in Yonkers, New York, in 00:02:51.139 --> 00:02:53.599 the early 1920s. And that's where her half -sister, 00:02:53.699 --> 00:02:55.639 Frances da Silva, was born. That's right, in 00:02:55.639 --> 00:02:58.900 1923. She grew up primarily in Yonkers, often 00:02:58.900 --> 00:03:01.180 living in a relatively poor, mixed immigrant 00:03:01.180 --> 00:03:03.759 neighborhood on School Street. What's often overlooked, 00:03:03.979 --> 00:03:06.120 I think, because of the drama that follows, is 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:08.080 that she started out as an exceptional student. 00:03:08.439 --> 00:03:12.349 She was. The documentation confirms she was an 00:03:12.349 --> 00:03:14.509 outstanding student attending Benjamin Franklin 00:03:14.509 --> 00:03:18.210 Junior High. So the foundational intellect was 00:03:18.210 --> 00:03:20.349 there. She wasn't a child who struggled academically 00:03:20.349 --> 00:03:22.509 at all. And she had immediate musical grounding, 00:03:22.629 --> 00:03:25.550 too. Yes. She was involved with the Bethany African 00:03:25.550 --> 00:03:28.509 Methodist Episcopal Church, attending worships, 00:03:28.509 --> 00:03:31.389 Sunday school, Bible study. That provided her 00:03:31.389 --> 00:03:33.810 earliest experiences singing in a group setting. 00:03:33.990 --> 00:03:36.990 But her first great love wasn't singing. It was... 00:03:37.699 --> 00:03:40.240 Not even close. She was utterly obsessed with 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:42.699 it. She idolized the famous vaudeville dancer 00:03:42.699 --> 00:03:45.659 Earl Snake Hips, Ducker. I've seen clips of him. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:47.860 Incredible. She used to put on shows for her 00:03:47.860 --> 00:03:49.500 friends, dancing for them on the way to school, 00:03:49.659 --> 00:03:52.659 entertaining her peers at lunchtime. This fixation 00:03:52.659 --> 00:03:54.919 on performance, on physical rhythm, is really 00:03:54.919 --> 00:03:57.780 the key precursor to her later musical genius, 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:00.520 particularly her rhythm and timing. It's fascinating 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:02.620 to think of the Queen of Jazz, who would later 00:04:02.620 --> 00:04:05.539 be so quiet and shy as this exuberant street 00:04:05.539 --> 00:04:09.159 dancer. But then when she was just 15, her life 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:12.400 hit a catastrophic turning point. Catastrophic 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:15.599 is the right word. In 1932, her mother, Temperance, 00:04:15.740 --> 00:04:18.279 died from injuries she sustained in a car accident. 00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:20.879 And Temperance was truly the anchor of Ella's 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:23.759 life. And when she was gone, everything just 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:27.579 dissolved. She had to move to Harlem. In April... 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:30.300 1933, to live with her aunt, Virginia Williams. 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.139 But the structure was gone. It was a rapid spiral, 00:04:33.259 --> 00:04:35.740 wasn't it? A very rapid spiral. She started skipping 00:04:35.740 --> 00:04:38.379 school, her grades plummeted, and she entered 00:04:38.379 --> 00:04:41.360 this desperate period of survival. The sources 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:44.540 paint a really stark picture. She was working 00:04:44.540 --> 00:04:47.300 as a lookout at a bordello and associating with 00:04:47.300 --> 00:04:49.879 a mafia -affiliated numbers runner. We should 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:51.759 probably pause here to explain what that meant 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:55.060 in 1930s Harlem. Yeah, that's a good idea. A 00:04:55.060 --> 00:04:57.220 numbers runner was someone operating an illegal 00:04:57.220 --> 00:04:59.660 lottery, often affiliated directly with organized 00:04:59.660 --> 00:05:01.860 crime, which was a major power player in Harlem. 00:05:01.980 --> 00:05:03.660 So this wasn't just working a minimum wage job. 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:06.680 No, no. This was entering a dangerous, illegal 00:05:06.680 --> 00:05:09.980 underworld, serving as lookout or a courier simply 00:05:09.980 --> 00:05:12.560 to survive. It's an environment diametrically 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:14.560 opposed to the elegant halls she would later 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:17.120 conquer. And you mentioned she never spoke publicly 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:21.540 about this. That silence speaks volumes. This 00:05:21.540 --> 00:05:23.560 period, where she went from an outstanding student 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:26.259 to struggling on the street, was clearly a source 00:05:26.259 --> 00:05:28.420 of profound shame and trauma she carried throughout 00:05:28.420 --> 00:05:32.660 her life. It absolutely was. And it led to institutionalization. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:35.639 The authorities eventually caught up with her, 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:38.120 and she was first placed in the Colored Orphan 00:05:38.120 --> 00:05:40.879 Asylum in Riverdale in the Bronx. And from there? 00:05:41.019 --> 00:05:43.819 Due to severe overcrowding, she was moved to 00:05:43.819 --> 00:05:46.300 the New York Training School for Girls. It was 00:05:46.300 --> 00:05:48.480 a state reformatory school up in Hudson, New 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:50.949 York. She was effectively a ward of the state 00:05:50.949 --> 00:05:53.870 during her mid -teens, incarcerated not for criminal 00:05:53.870 --> 00:05:56.149 violence, but for skipping school and running 00:05:56.149 --> 00:05:58.589 away. That period of institutionalization is 00:05:58.589 --> 00:06:01.230 such a shocking contrast to the refined woman 00:06:01.230 --> 00:06:03.290 we know. You realize her debut wasn't a choice. 00:06:03.370 --> 00:06:06.819 It was an act of raw necessity. And chance. It 00:06:06.819 --> 00:06:08.720 was born out of needing a way off the streets. 00:06:09.100 --> 00:06:12.040 She survived in part by singing and dancing on 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:14.740 the streets of Harlem between 1933 and 1934. 00:06:14.980 --> 00:06:17.660 And that leads directly to the iconic debut at 00:06:17.660 --> 00:06:19.740 the Apollo Theater's Amateur Night, November 00:06:19.740 --> 00:06:24.740 21st, 1934. She was only 17 years old. 17. And 00:06:24.740 --> 00:06:27.100 the massive surprise for those who only know 00:06:27.100 --> 00:06:29.600 the legend is that she didn't intend to sing 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:31.839 at all. No, she went there to dance, planning 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:34.399 to emulate her idol, Earl Snake Hips Tucker. 00:06:34.910 --> 00:06:38.129 But when she saw the local dance duo, the Edwards 00:06:38.129 --> 00:06:42.509 sisters, perform, she was just utterly intimidated. 00:06:42.769 --> 00:06:45.610 She was convinced she couldn't compete with their 00:06:45.610 --> 00:06:47.769 polished routine. So in a split -second decision, 00:06:48.089 --> 00:06:51.069 that changed music history. She switched from 00:06:51.069 --> 00:06:53.769 dancing to singing. She performed in the style 00:06:53.769 --> 00:06:56.019 of her other great idol. the white jazz singer 00:06:56.019 --> 00:06:58.540 Connie Boswell, who had been a major influence 00:06:58.540 --> 00:07:01.680 on her delivery. And she sang Judy and The Object 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:03.579 of My Affection. And she didn't just sing, she 00:07:03.579 --> 00:07:06.120 blew the audience away. Yeah. She won first prize. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:07.779 Which was supposed to be a week -long performance 00:07:07.779 --> 00:07:11.019 gig at the Apollo. But here is the sting of the 00:07:11.019 --> 00:07:13.959 social obstacle she faced. The theater revoked 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:15.899 the prize. They revoked it. The reason they gave 00:07:15.899 --> 00:07:18.399 was her disheveled appearance. She was a prodigious 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:21.149 talent. But she looked exactly like the struggling, 00:07:21.329 --> 00:07:24.149 unkempt young woman who had recently been sleeping 00:07:24.149 --> 00:07:27.050 rough or was just out of reformatory. The raw 00:07:27.050 --> 00:07:29.509 callot was there, but the professional image 00:07:29.509 --> 00:07:32.709 just wasn't. It perfectly encapsulates the conflict 00:07:32.709 --> 00:07:36.050 of her early career. The genius was undeniable, 00:07:36.189 --> 00:07:38.569 but the social systems were working against her. 00:07:38.689 --> 00:07:41.009 Completely. The Apollo snub couldn't hold her 00:07:41.009 --> 00:07:43.639 back, though. The sources note she did win a 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:46.079 small gig with the Tiny Bradshaw Band at the 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:50.160 Harlem Opera House in January 1935. But the real 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:52.600 game changer happened later that year. Right, 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:54.899 when she was introduced to the drummer and bandleader 00:07:54.899 --> 00:07:59.000 Chick Webb by Bardu Ali. This is the true genesis 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:01.420 of her professional career. It's a key inflection 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:04.079 point, but we have to emphasize Webb's initial 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:06.579 reluctance. Oh, absolutely. He was a major bandleader. 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:08.800 And the sources say he hesitated because she 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:11.399 was gawky and unkempt, a diamond in the rough. 00:08:11.790 --> 00:08:14.509 He wasn't seeing the polished star. He was seeing 00:08:14.509 --> 00:08:16.790 the rough edges left by her tumultuous youth. 00:08:16.990 --> 00:08:19.550 So she had to prove herself. Berdu Ali, however, 00:08:19.649 --> 00:08:23.029 was persistent. He really was. He convinced Webb 00:08:23.029 --> 00:08:25.709 to give her a chance to perform a test with a 00:08:25.709 --> 00:08:28.629 band at a dance held at Yale University. And 00:08:28.629 --> 00:08:30.870 what happened next was instantaneous chemistry. 00:08:31.149 --> 00:08:33.750 The audience and the musicians loved her immediately. 00:08:34.129 --> 00:08:36.769 The energy was electric. She was quickly asked 00:08:36.769 --> 00:08:39.429 to join Webb's orchestra and soon became the 00:08:39.429 --> 00:08:41.870 main female vocalist. And this is the beginning 00:08:41.870 --> 00:08:45.090 of the Savoy years. Exactly. Performing most 00:08:45.090 --> 00:08:47.470 often at the legendary Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, 00:08:47.610 --> 00:08:50.169 establishing her reputation within the established 00:08:50.169 --> 00:08:52.830 jazz and swing world. But she wasn't just performing 00:08:52.830 --> 00:08:56.309 jazz standards. She took a novelty song and turned 00:08:56.309 --> 00:09:00.330 it into a cultural phenomenon in 1938. A tisket, 00:09:00.370 --> 00:09:03.149 a tasket. A song she co -wrote. Right. And the 00:09:03.149 --> 00:09:05.750 success of that song is difficult to overstate. 00:09:05.870 --> 00:09:07.970 It really is. It was based on a simple nursery 00:09:07.970 --> 00:09:10.809 rhyme, but her innocent yet precise delivery 00:09:10.809 --> 00:09:13.769 resonated across the nation. It became a massive 00:09:13.769 --> 00:09:16.029 hit on the radio, dominating the airwaves. And 00:09:16.029 --> 00:09:17.570 it ended up being one of the biggest selling 00:09:17.570 --> 00:09:19.750 records of the entire decade. It wasn't just 00:09:19.750 --> 00:09:22.629 a hit for Ella. It catapulted both her and Chick 00:09:22.629 --> 00:09:25.809 Webb's orchestra to true national fame, taking 00:09:25.809 --> 00:09:28.350 them far beyond the Harlem scene. But tragedy 00:09:28.350 --> 00:09:31.889 struck again only a year later. Chick Webb, who 00:09:31.889 --> 00:09:34.769 suffered from spinal tuberculosis, died in June 00:09:34.769 --> 00:09:40.000 1939. Ella, who was only 22, was thrust into 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:42.200 leadership. She took over the band, renaming 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:44.539 it Ella Fitzgerald and her famous orchestra. 00:09:44.899 --> 00:09:47.139 Which showed incredible resilience and managerial 00:09:47.139 --> 00:09:49.820 skill at such a young age. She maintained that 00:09:49.820 --> 00:09:52.879 leadership role and recorded nearly 150 songs 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:56.179 with Webb's orchestra between 1935 and 1942, 00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:59.679 before ultimately deciding to launch a solo career. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:02.879 So she left the orchestra in 1942. Her early 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:06.299 solo years, the decade years from 42 to 55, were 00:10:06.299 --> 00:10:09.470 managed. by Mo Gale, a co -founder of the Savoy. 00:10:09.570 --> 00:10:11.690 And she had immediate commercial success during 00:10:11.690 --> 00:10:13.149 this period because she was willing to collaborate 00:10:13.149 --> 00:10:14.950 across different commercial genres. She scored 00:10:14.950 --> 00:10:17.769 major pop hits showing her versatility. A number 00:10:17.769 --> 00:10:20.649 one hit, Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall, 00:10:20.769 --> 00:10:22.929 working with Bill Kenny and the Ink Spots, who 00:10:22.929 --> 00:10:25.460 specialized in gospel and R &B. She also recorded 00:10:25.460 --> 00:10:27.720 successfully with the Jump Blues legend, Louis 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:29.960 Jordan. This period shows her as a successful 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:32.440 commercial artist, but not yet the cultural force 00:10:32.440 --> 00:10:34.919 she would become. Not yet. And here is where 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:38.259 the next great shift occurs, fueled by her burgeoning 00:10:38.259 --> 00:10:40.240 relationship with the concert series promoter 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:42.759 and later manager, Norman Grantz. She started 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:45.899 singing for his influential concert series, Jazz 00:10:45.899 --> 00:10:50.159 at the Philharmonic, or JATP, in the mid -1940s. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:52.519 And that partnership, which led to Grantz becoming 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:57.740 her manager, redefined... And that strategic 00:10:57.740 --> 00:11:00.360 shift was driven by the massive transformation 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:04.000 jazz itself was undergoing. By the late 1940s, 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:07.000 the era of the big touring swing bands was declining. 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:10.000 Swing was giving way to bebop. a much faster, 00:11:10.100 --> 00:11:12.220 more complex, and harmonically sophisticated 00:11:12.220 --> 00:11:15.419 style of jazz championed by musicians like Charlie 00:11:15.419 --> 00:11:17.799 Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Bebop wasn't just 00:11:17.799 --> 00:11:20.379 faster, it was harmonically revolutionary. It 00:11:20.379 --> 00:11:22.360 used dissonance, chromaticism, and incredibly 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:25.159 complex time signatures. It required musicians 00:11:25.159 --> 00:11:27.940 to solo with blinding speed and inventiveness. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:30.820 Exactly. And Ella, being the consummate musician, 00:11:31.139 --> 00:11:33.519 absorbed this new development by working directly 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:36.179 with Dizzy Gillespie's big band. This is where 00:11:36.179 --> 00:11:38.460 her signature scat singing truly came into it. 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:41.720 its own. She didn't just adopt it. She instrumentalized 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:44.419 her voice to meet the demands of bebop. That 00:11:44.419 --> 00:11:46.980 famous quote is so illuminating. She recalled 00:11:46.980 --> 00:11:49.980 trying to do with my voice what I heard the horns 00:11:49.980 --> 00:11:52.559 in the band doing. She wasn't imitating lyrics. 00:11:52.820 --> 00:11:55.639 She was turning her voice into a bebop horn solo, 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:58.539 navigating those complex harmonies and rhythms. 00:11:58.860 --> 00:12:01.440 And while Louis Armstrong had used vocal improvisation 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:05.120 before, calling it scat, nobody had ever achieved 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:07.950 Ella's level of virtuosity. Not within the complicated 00:12:07.950 --> 00:12:10.610 structures of bebop, her technique was revolutionary. 00:12:10.970 --> 00:12:13.309 The New York Times later recognized this, calling 00:12:13.309 --> 00:12:16.850 her 1945 scat recording of Flying Home, which 00:12:16.850 --> 00:12:19.649 was arranged by Vic Schoen, one of the most influential 00:12:19.649 --> 00:12:22.769 vocal jazz records of the decade. And they specifically 00:12:22.769 --> 00:12:25.110 noted that no one before her had employed the 00:12:25.110 --> 00:12:28.190 technique with such dazzling inventiveness. Her 00:12:28.190 --> 00:12:31.529 1947 bebop recording of Oh, Lady Be Good similarly 00:12:31.529 --> 00:12:34.350 cemented her status as the leading jazz vocalist. 00:12:34.470 --> 00:12:37.389 Think about that arc. She went from a dancer 00:12:37.389 --> 00:12:39.850 trying to survive on the streets of Harlem to 00:12:39.850 --> 00:12:42.230 the undisputed master of the most technically 00:12:42.230 --> 00:12:45.250 demanding vocal style in modern music all within 00:12:45.250 --> 00:12:48.230 about a decade. She had turned a survival skill 00:12:48.230 --> 00:12:51.659 improvising into a high art form. So by 1955, 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:54.340 Ella Fitzgerald is established as the queen of 00:12:54.340 --> 00:12:57.399 jazz, the master of scat. She's performing for 00:12:57.399 --> 00:13:01.360 JATP, but Norman Granz, her manager, sees a ceiling 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:05.059 in remaining purely a jazz artist. He saw a much 00:13:05.059 --> 00:13:07.620 larger cultural opportunity. And this realization 00:13:07.620 --> 00:13:09.960 is what we're calling the Verve Catalyst. It's 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:12.840 a moment of radical career strategy. It is. She 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:15.600 strategically left Decca Records, which had treated 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:18.279 her mostly as a pop jazz crossover artist. And 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:20.659 Granz founded Verve Records. specifically around 00:13:20.659 --> 00:13:23.580 her and his vision for her. He viewed this move 00:13:23.580 --> 00:13:25.879 as essential for her career expansion beyond 00:13:25.879 --> 00:13:28.080 the specialist jazz circuit. And it was Ella 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:30.500 herself, famously reserved, who articulated this 00:13:30.500 --> 00:13:32.960 massive shift in focus. She said she had gotten 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:34.960 to the point where she was only singing bebop 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:37.120 and eventually felt she had no place to sing. 00:13:37.259 --> 00:13:39.379 The bebop circuit was contracting. She realized 00:13:39.379 --> 00:13:41.980 there was more to music than bop. Grinz agreed. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:45.039 feeling she needed to do other things to secure 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:48.059 her longevity and relevance. And that led to 00:13:48.059 --> 00:13:51.210 the true strategic masterpiece. Ella Fitzgerald 00:13:51.210 --> 00:13:54.309 sings the Cole Porter songbook released in 1956. 00:13:54.830 --> 00:13:57.409 She later described that moment as the turning 00:13:57.409 --> 00:14:00.190 point in my life. It was the shift from pure 00:14:00.190 --> 00:14:03.210 musician to cultural curator. Speaking of turning 00:14:03.210 --> 00:14:05.850 points, this is also the period for that famous 00:14:05.850 --> 00:14:08.990 Hollywood anecdote, the Macombo incident. And 00:14:08.990 --> 00:14:11.309 the sources clarify there's a crucial inaccuracy 00:14:11.309 --> 00:14:14.389 in how it's commonly retold. Right. She opened 00:14:14.389 --> 00:14:16.529 her initial engagement at the Macombo nightclub 00:14:16.529 --> 00:14:20.419 in Hollywood on March 15th, 1955. The fact that 00:14:20.419 --> 00:14:22.720 she got the booking is attributed entirely to 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:25.399 Marilyn Monroe. Who was a huge fan. A huge fan. 00:14:25.559 --> 00:14:28.299 She personally lobbied the owner, Charlie Morrison, 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:30.840 and promised him that if he booked Ella, she 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:32.519 would sit in the front row every single night, 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:34.899 ensuring massive press coverage. And it worked. 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:36.820 It worked beautifully, boosting Ella into the 00:14:36.820 --> 00:14:39.389 highest echelons of celebrity nightlife. It was 00:14:39.389 --> 00:14:42.049 an incredible moment of solidarity, but the critical 00:14:42.049 --> 00:14:44.830 clarification from our sources is this. While 00:14:44.830 --> 00:14:47.029 it's often said Monroe got Ella to break the 00:14:47.029 --> 00:14:50.009 color line there, that is untrue. Okay, so who 00:14:50.009 --> 00:14:52.450 had played there before? African -American singers 00:14:52.450 --> 00:14:54.870 Herb Jeffries, Eartha Kitt, and Joyce Bryant 00:14:54.870 --> 00:14:58.110 had all played the Macombo in 1952 and 1953. 00:14:58.610 --> 00:15:00.750 So the significance wasn't that she was the first 00:15:00.750 --> 00:15:02.929 black performer. Exactly. The significance was 00:15:02.929 --> 00:15:04.909 that she was now playing a venue that required 00:15:04.909 --> 00:15:07.730 A -list celebrity pole, and she was drawing that 00:15:07.730 --> 00:15:10.799 audience. It confirmed Granz's belief that she 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:13.480 could be marketed as a mainstream pop superstar, 00:15:13.860 --> 00:15:16.940 not just a jazz specialist. And that crossover 00:15:16.940 --> 00:15:19.120 push was the entire point of the Great American 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:22.059 Songbook series. The Cole Porter Songbook was 00:15:22.059 --> 00:15:24.960 just the first of eight songbook sets she recorded 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:28.720 for Verve between 1956 and 1964. This was marketing 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:32.039 genius. And the strategic intent cannot be overstated. 00:15:32.379 --> 00:15:35.039 These albums were an explicit attempt to move 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:37.379 her beyond the specialized jazz audience and 00:15:37.379 --> 00:15:39.519 cross her over into the massive, predominantly 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:42.340 white pop audience that listened to radio and 00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:44.759 bought records at department stores. They were 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:47.419 meticulously curated, weren't they? Spanning 00:15:47.419 --> 00:15:49.200 standards to rarities, covering the greatest 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:52.399 musical canon of American popular music, Rogers 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:55.440 and Hart. Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, George 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:57.620 and Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:01.059 Johnny Mercer. I mean, these albums were historical 00:16:01.059 --> 00:16:03.440 documents as much as they were pop records. And 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:05.200 the cultural significance is transformative. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:07.759 The New York Times, commenting on her legacy 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:10.720 in 1996, noted that these albums were among the 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:13.259 first pop records to devote such serious attention 00:16:13.259 --> 00:16:16.879 to individual songwriters. They essentially pioneered 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.679 the concept of the curated thematic pop album 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:22.340 as a vehicle for serious musical exploration. 00:16:23.019 --> 00:16:25.320 Before Ella, albums were often just collections 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:28.080 of singles. After Ella, they became conceptual 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:31.340 works. And this leads us to the social alchemy 00:16:31.340 --> 00:16:35.200 that the writer Frank Rich articulated. He summarized 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:37.340 the deep cultural transaction that was happening 00:16:37.340 --> 00:16:39.220 here. That's such a powerful quote. He said, 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:41.740 here was a black woman popularizing urban songs 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:44.500 often written by immigrant Jews to a national 00:16:44.500 --> 00:16:47.610 audience of predominantly white Christians. That 00:16:47.610 --> 00:16:49.789 statement encapsulates the revolutionary nature 00:16:49.789 --> 00:16:52.809 of her achievement. In a deeply segregated America 00:16:52.809 --> 00:16:55.370 where cultural consumption was often ghettoized, 00:16:55.590 --> 00:16:58.350 Ella was using her pristine voice to seamlessly 00:16:58.350 --> 00:17:01.330 integrate the American musical landscape. She 00:17:01.330 --> 00:17:03.830 was validating material created by marginalized 00:17:03.830 --> 00:17:07.049 groups for the mainstream, simply by applying 00:17:07.049 --> 00:17:10.230 her unparalleled, unimpeachable talent to it. 00:17:10.539 --> 00:17:12.420 It's integration from the top down. She didn't 00:17:12.420 --> 00:17:15.259 just sing the song. She codified them. She made 00:17:15.259 --> 00:17:17.680 these works the definitive versions for millions 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:20.660 of listeners. She was, in a way, teaching America 00:17:20.660 --> 00:17:23.380 its own culture. And it's also worth noting the 00:17:23.380 --> 00:17:25.640 special detail about the Duke Ellington songbook. 00:17:26.059 --> 00:17:28.680 It was the only one in the series where the composer 00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:30.759 she was interpreting actually played with her. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:33.500 Oh, that's incredible. Ellington and his collaborator 00:17:33.500 --> 00:17:36.079 Billy Strayhorn appeared on half of the 38 tracks, 00:17:36.259 --> 00:17:39.019 and they took the opportunity to write two entirely 00:17:39.019 --> 00:17:42.400 new pieces just for the album, including a four 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:44.789 -movement musical portrait of Fitzgerald. That 00:17:44.789 --> 00:17:47.970 is a stunning level of artistic respect and collaboration. 00:17:48.410 --> 00:17:51.069 The giants of American music acknowledged her 00:17:51.069 --> 00:17:53.490 as their perfect interpreter. But while this 00:17:53.490 --> 00:17:55.769 massive commercial strategy was underway, she 00:17:55.769 --> 00:17:58.230 and Granz were also constantly fighting real 00:17:58.230 --> 00:18:00.730 -world battles against racial barriers. Let's 00:18:00.730 --> 00:18:02.789 look at the Pan discrimination suit from 1954. 00:18:03.410 --> 00:18:05.750 This incident occurred during her very first 00:18:05.750 --> 00:18:09.450 tour of Australia, promoted by Lee Gordon. The 00:18:09.450 --> 00:18:11.809 source material shows that Ella, her pianist 00:18:11.809 --> 00:18:14.849 John Lewis, her assistant Georgiana Henry, and 00:18:14.849 --> 00:18:17.990 Norman Granz, they all held first -class tickets 00:18:17.990 --> 00:18:20.809 for a Pan American Airlines flight from Honolulu 00:18:20.809 --> 00:18:23.490 to Sydney. First -class tickets, and despite 00:18:23.490 --> 00:18:25.589 holding valid tickets after they had already 00:18:25.589 --> 00:18:27.470 boarded the aircraft, they were ordered to leave. 00:18:27.769 --> 00:18:30.309 Ordered off the plane. And when they asked to 00:18:30.309 --> 00:18:32.690 re -board to retrieve their luggage and clothing, 00:18:32.930 --> 00:18:36.109 they were slightly refused permission. They were 00:18:36.109 --> 00:18:38.609 literally stranded in Honolulu for three days 00:18:38.609 --> 00:18:40.569 before they could secure another flight. And 00:18:40.569 --> 00:18:42.970 what was Pan Am's excuse? A Pan Am spokesperson 00:18:42.970 --> 00:18:45.529 at the time was quoted in the Australian press 00:18:45.529 --> 00:18:48.430 denying the incident was racially based, claiming 00:18:48.430 --> 00:18:51.009 it was just an issue with scheduling. But Fitzgerald 00:18:51.009 --> 00:18:53.410 and her entourage, they were having none of it. 00:18:53.630 --> 00:18:56.390 So they took decisive action. They filed a civil 00:18:56.390 --> 00:18:58.750 suit for racial discrimination against Pan Am 00:18:58.750 --> 00:19:01.970 in December 1954. This wasn't just a private 00:19:01.970 --> 00:19:04.869 grievance. This was a highly public legal challenge 00:19:04.869 --> 00:19:07.829 to a major international airline's discriminatory 00:19:07.829 --> 00:19:10.589 practices. And they won. They won, though it 00:19:10.589 --> 00:19:12.869 took time. They initially lost the suit, but 00:19:12.869 --> 00:19:16.109 won on appeal in January 1956, receiving what 00:19:16.109 --> 00:19:18.569 Fitzgerald later described in a 1970 interview 00:19:18.569 --> 00:19:22.059 as a Nice settlement. That action is so vital 00:19:22.059 --> 00:19:24.299 because it proves that their fight against discrimination 00:19:24.299 --> 00:19:27.019 was structural and legal, not just anecdotal. 00:19:27.140 --> 00:19:29.980 Exactly. Grants was using his financial and legal 00:19:29.980 --> 00:19:32.740 power to protect his client and fight for basic 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:35.319 dignity. So the Riviers established her as the 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:37.519 world's most versatile vocalist through the strategic 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:40.480 brilliance of the songbooks. But she never stopped 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:43.180 being a jazz master. We have to highlight her 00:19:43.180 --> 00:19:45.500 work with Louis Armstrong. Oh, absolutely. Their 00:19:45.500 --> 00:19:47.940 three Verve albums are foundational pieces of 00:19:47.940 --> 00:19:50.400 mid -century jazz. You have two Standards albums, 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:53.119 Ellen Louie and Ellen Louie Again, and a third 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:55.720 featuring music from the Gershwin opera Porgy 00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:57.980 and Bess. The dynamic between them is just so 00:19:57.980 --> 00:20:00.519 fascinating because they are polar opposites 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:04.019 vocally. They really are. Armstrong's voice was 00:20:04.019 --> 00:20:06.619 gravelly, playful, and instantly recognizable. 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:10.519 Ella's was pure, precise. almost untouchable 00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:13.180 in its perfection, yet they merged flawlessly. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:16.799 It's a masterclass in contrast. It is. Armstrong's 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:19.779 playful, earthy delivery offset Ella's refined, 00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:23.500 pristine quality. And Ella and Louie is often 00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:25.220 celebrated because the tracks are just the two 00:20:25.220 --> 00:20:27.400 of them, supported by the Oscar -Peterson trio. 00:20:27.660 --> 00:20:30.619 It's intimate, conversational, and showcases 00:20:30.619 --> 00:20:33.839 the absolute best of both traditions. And then 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:35.819 there's Count Basie. Their collaborations are 00:20:35.819 --> 00:20:38.220 considered some of her best big band swing work. 00:20:38.670 --> 00:20:42.549 Ella and Basie from 1963 is a standout, highly 00:20:42.549 --> 00:20:44.990 regarded, featuring a crack band and arrangements 00:20:44.990 --> 00:20:48.390 written by a young, ambitious Quincy Jones. The 00:20:48.390 --> 00:20:50.849 sources note that this album was a welcomed respite 00:20:50.849 --> 00:20:52.789 for her from the demanding, highly structured 00:20:52.789 --> 00:20:55.490 work of the songbook series. Yeah, in the songbook, 00:20:55.549 --> 00:20:57.890 she had to be the curator, the historian and 00:20:57.890 --> 00:21:00.369 the interpreter. With Basie, she got to be purely 00:21:00.369 --> 00:21:02.890 a swing vocalist again, letting the band power 00:21:02.890 --> 00:21:05.450 the energy. And Jones's arrangements were sharp, 00:21:05.509 --> 00:21:07.710 modern and perfectly complemented her voice. 00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:09.819 We also have to give a shout out to her later 00:21:09.819 --> 00:21:12.019 career partnership with the guitarist Joe Pass. 00:21:12.299 --> 00:21:15.059 Yes. They recorded four albums together toward 00:21:15.059 --> 00:21:17.079 the end of her touring days, starting with Take 00:21:17.079 --> 00:21:21.019 Love Easy in 1973. The dynamic here was profoundly 00:21:21.019 --> 00:21:23.140 different from the big bands. It was just her 00:21:23.140 --> 00:21:26.839 voice and his guitar. Just that. Incredibly intimate, 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:30.759 stripped down. Pass acted as the perfect melodic 00:21:30.759 --> 00:21:34.200 foil for her voice, offering these complex counter 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:36.619 melodies and harmonies, which forced Ella to 00:21:36.619 --> 00:21:39.440 rely less on volume and more on emotional nuance. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:41.940 Those albums are beautiful, and she never worked 00:21:41.940 --> 00:21:44.319 alone, did she? She always had an A -list group 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:47.539 of musicians surrounding her. Always. Trumpeters 00:21:47.539 --> 00:21:50.440 like Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie, and a 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:52.839 rotating cast of incredible pianists like Tommy 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:56.460 Flanagan, Oscar Peterson, Paul Smith. She commanded 00:21:56.460 --> 00:21:58.960 the best talent because she demanded perfection. 00:21:59.299 --> 00:22:01.460 Now let's switch gears because while her professional 00:22:01.460 --> 00:22:03.720 life was an open book, her personal life was 00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:06.720 carefully guarded. Largely due to her famous 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:09.539 shyness, she had two primary marriages. The first, 00:22:09.660 --> 00:22:12.740 to Benny Cornegay in 1941, was annulled in 1942. 00:22:13.180 --> 00:22:15.680 The second was to the famous bassist Ray Brown 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:18.930 from 1947 to 1953. And though the marriage to 00:22:18.930 --> 00:22:21.109 Brown ended primarily due to the conflicting 00:22:21.109 --> 00:22:23.089 pressures of their relentless touring careers, 00:22:23.309 --> 00:22:25.710 they continued to perform together. Which requires 00:22:25.710 --> 00:22:27.730 a level of professional maturity that is almost 00:22:27.730 --> 00:22:30.529 unheard of in show business. They also adopted 00:22:30.529 --> 00:22:33.230 a child born to her half -sister, Frances, whom 00:22:33.230 --> 00:22:36.450 they christened Ray Brown Jr. They did. But because 00:22:36.450 --> 00:22:39.569 both Ella and Ray Brown were constantly touring 00:22:39.569 --> 00:22:42.089 and recording, the sources indicate the child 00:22:42.089 --> 00:22:44.329 was largely raised by her aunt, Virginia, back 00:22:44.329 --> 00:22:47.170 in New York. which speaks to the constant sacrifice 00:22:47.170 --> 00:22:49.930 required by her career. And that brings us back 00:22:49.930 --> 00:22:53.349 to her notorious personality, the shyness. Mario 00:22:53.349 --> 00:22:55.670 Balzac, who played behind her in the early Chick 00:22:55.670 --> 00:22:58.630 Webb years, remembered her distinct aloofness. 00:22:58.910 --> 00:23:07.470 He said, She was the ultimate professional who 00:23:07.470 --> 00:23:10.029 found her voice only when singing. She said it 00:23:10.029 --> 00:23:12.609 herself. When the Society of Singers named an 00:23:12.609 --> 00:23:14.849 award after her later in her life, she famously 00:23:14.849 --> 00:23:16.849 explained, I don't want to say the wrong thing, 00:23:16.890 --> 00:23:19.009 which I always do, but I think I do better when 00:23:19.009 --> 00:23:21.769 I sing. That humility just contrasts so sharply 00:23:21.769 --> 00:23:24.390 with the command she had on stage. It's a powerful 00:23:24.390 --> 00:23:27.369 dual identity, the shy woman and the powerful 00:23:27.369 --> 00:23:30.970 stage persona. And for a period, she was anchored 00:23:30.970 --> 00:23:33.730 in a significant community in New York. From 00:23:33.730 --> 00:23:37.609 1949 to 1956, she resided in St. Albans, Queens. 00:23:37.950 --> 00:23:40.289 Which was more than just a suburban home. It 00:23:40.289 --> 00:23:42.890 was an enclave of prosperous African -American 00:23:42.890 --> 00:23:45.950 residents, a cultural incubator for jazz legends. 00:23:46.269 --> 00:23:48.589 Exactly. Her neighbors included Count Basie, 00:23:48.630 --> 00:23:51.150 Lena Horne, and later, the great saxophonist 00:23:51.150 --> 00:23:54.089 John Coltrane. This environment provided a sense 00:23:54.089 --> 00:23:56.369 of community and stability. That brings us to 00:23:56.369 --> 00:23:59.670 her vital and often understated role in the civil 00:23:59.670 --> 00:24:02.410 rights movement. She wasn't often seen at rallies, 00:24:02.549 --> 00:24:05.690 but her activism was structural, driven by Norman 00:24:05.690 --> 00:24:08.410 Granz's fierce principles. Granz was a lifelong 00:24:08.410 --> 00:24:11.390 staunch anti -segregationist, and he used his 00:24:11.390 --> 00:24:14.029 entire business operation, JETP, and eventually 00:24:14.029 --> 00:24:17.089 Verve, as a lever for social change. He recruited 00:24:17.089 --> 00:24:19.930 Ella for JATP and required promoters to ensure 00:24:19.930 --> 00:24:22.529 there was no colored or white seating at venues 00:24:22.529 --> 00:24:25.190 if they refused. He canceled the show. He also 00:24:25.190 --> 00:24:27.650 demanded equal pay and accommodations for Fitzgerald 00:24:27.650 --> 00:24:30.150 regardless of her sex and race, backing up those 00:24:30.150 --> 00:24:32.170 demands with the economic power of her drawing 00:24:32.170 --> 00:24:34.609 ability. That is activism through economic leverage. 00:24:35.009 --> 00:24:38.470 It is. Author Bill Reed recognized this, dubbing 00:24:38.470 --> 00:24:40.829 her the civil rights crusader for facing down 00:24:40.829 --> 00:24:43.460 discrimination throughout her career. She received 00:24:43.460 --> 00:24:46.500 the NAACP Equal Justice Award, the American Black 00:24:46.500 --> 00:24:48.400 Achievement Award, and the Presidential Medal 00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:51.259 of Freedom. She was truly a global cultural ambassador. 00:24:51.740 --> 00:24:53.859 Moving into her later career, the dynamic shifts 00:24:53.859 --> 00:24:57.079 again in the mid -1960s. Verve Records was sold 00:24:57.079 --> 00:25:00.960 to MGM in 1960. And unfortunately, MGM failed 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:04.119 to renew her contract in 1967. This forced her 00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:06.680 into a period of label wandering. She recorded 00:25:06.680 --> 00:25:09.039 for Atlantic, Capitol, and Reprise for the next 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:11.160 five years. It was a challenging transitional 00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:13.440 period, but it forced her to record some highly 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:15.940 varied, unexpected material. Very unexpected. 00:25:16.259 --> 00:25:18.319 For Capitol, we see Bright in the Corner, which 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:20.839 was an album of hymns, Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas, 00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:24.039 traditional carols, and surprisingly, Misty Blue, 00:25:24.299 --> 00:25:26.380 which had a distinct country -western influence. 00:25:26.740 --> 00:25:29.119 She was clearly exploring all corners of American 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:32.140 popular music. That versatility extended to contemporary 00:25:32.140 --> 00:25:35.079 pop as well. Her final U .S. chart single from 00:25:35.079 --> 00:25:37.700 this period was a cover of Smokey Robinson's 00:25:37.700 --> 00:25:40.380 Get Ready. Previously a hit for The Temptations. 00:25:40.539 --> 00:25:43.019 So she was tackling everything from gospel to 00:25:43.019 --> 00:25:45.420 Motown. But the narrative comes full circle in 00:25:45.420 --> 00:25:48.960 the early 1970s. It does. The surprise success 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:52.579 of the 1972 live album Jazz at Santa Monica Civic 00:25:52.579 --> 00:25:56.279 72 proved that the public still wanted pure Ella 00:25:56.279 --> 00:25:59.440 Jazz. This success inspired Norman Grants to 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:01.480 get back into the record business. He founded 00:26:01.480 --> 00:26:04.720 Pablo Records in 1973, his first label since 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:07.630 selling Verve. And Ella once again had a home 00:26:07.630 --> 00:26:10.190 with her most trusted manager and producer. She 00:26:10.190 --> 00:26:12.130 went on to record about 20 albums for Pablo, 00:26:12.349 --> 00:26:14.950 continuing her prolific output well into her 00:26:14.950 --> 00:26:17.150 later years. However, it's during these Pablo 00:26:17.150 --> 00:26:19.329 years that we see the inevitable physical toll 00:26:19.329 --> 00:26:22.029 of time and health. Biographers noted the decline 00:26:22.029 --> 00:26:25.109 in her voice. The description is heartbreakingly 00:26:25.109 --> 00:26:27.369 specific. One biographer noted that during this 00:26:27.369 --> 00:26:29.990 period, she frequently used shorter stabbing 00:26:29.990 --> 00:26:32.210 phrases and her voice was harder with a wider 00:26:32.210 --> 00:26:34.930 vibrato. She was adapting her technique to accommodate 00:26:34.930 --> 00:26:37.349 the changes in her physical instrument. Using 00:26:37.349 --> 00:26:40.170 her timing and rhythm, the skills forged in the 00:26:40.170 --> 00:26:42.589 Chick Webb years, to compensate for any loss 00:26:42.589 --> 00:26:45.230 of range or purity. Even a declining Ella, however, 00:26:45.390 --> 00:26:47.849 was a world -class musician. Oh, absolutely. 00:26:48.130 --> 00:26:51.250 She continued to record until 1991 and performed 00:26:51.250 --> 00:26:54.809 publicly until 1993, long past when many of her 00:26:54.809 --> 00:26:57.039 contemporaries had retired. Before we move on 00:26:57.039 --> 00:26:59.140 to her final years, we need to talk about the 00:26:59.140 --> 00:27:01.279 anecdotes that illustrate her sheer cultural 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:03.740 penetration. How she entered the consciousness 00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:07.359 of mainstream America. In film, she played the 00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:10.640 singer Maggie Jackson in the 1955 jazz film Pete 00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:13.839 Kelly's Blues. This was a major dramatic milestone 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:16.500 for her. Granz had negotiated the role for her, 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:19.160 and she was reportedly delighted. Even though 00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:21.480 the New York Times reviewer famously panned the 00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:23.779 film, They singled out her performance, saying 00:27:23.779 --> 00:27:26.799 the fleeting scenes when the wonderful Ella Fitzgerald 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:29.440 fills the screen and soundtrack with her strong 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:32.079 mobile features and voice were the best part. 00:27:32.279 --> 00:27:34.140 And then there's the commercial icon status, 00:27:34.380 --> 00:27:36.940 the famous Memorex commercial. Unforgettable. 00:27:36.980 --> 00:27:39.920 The premise. She sang a note that shattered a 00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:41.859 wine glass while the sound was being recorded 00:27:41.859 --> 00:27:44.420 on a Memorex cassette tape. Then the tape played 00:27:44.420 --> 00:27:46.940 back and the recorded sound shattered a second 00:27:46.940 --> 00:27:49.619 glass. Posing the question, is it live or is 00:27:49.619 --> 00:27:52.250 it Memorex? It solidified her cultural image 00:27:52.250 --> 00:27:55.009 as possessing a voice of such purity and power 00:27:55.009 --> 00:27:58.670 that it could physically manifest force. She 00:27:58.670 --> 00:28:00.710 also did several Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials, 00:28:00.990 --> 00:28:04.569 singing their slogan, We do chicken right. But 00:28:04.569 --> 00:28:07.289 the anecdote that truly captures her sheer musical 00:28:07.289 --> 00:28:10.049 brilliance under pressure is from the 1960 album 00:28:10.049 --> 00:28:13.529 Ella in Berlin, Mac the Knife. She won a Grammy 00:28:13.529 --> 00:28:16.759 for that specific performance. And why? Because 00:28:16.759 --> 00:28:19.480 she completely forgot the lyrics mid -song. Instead 00:28:19.480 --> 00:28:22.519 of freezing or stopping the band. She just improvised. 00:28:22.660 --> 00:28:24.980 Improvised lyrics on the spot, commenting on 00:28:24.980 --> 00:28:27.799 the situation, and scatting spectacularly to 00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:30.160 compensate for the lost words. It was an ultimate 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:32.480 demonstration of her mastery, proving that her 00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:35.039 genius was instantaneous, not just rehearsed 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:37.039 perfection. Her final years were marked by a 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:39.259 long and difficult battle with diabetes. This 00:28:39.259 --> 00:28:41.259 started causing serious complications in the 00:28:41.259 --> 00:28:44.450 mid -1980s. The source material details her repeated 00:28:44.450 --> 00:28:47.750 hospitalizations for respiratory problems, congestive 00:28:47.750 --> 00:28:50.430 heart failure, physical exhaustion, and sadly, 00:28:50.490 --> 00:28:53.009 the diabetes took a terrible toll, damaging her 00:28:53.009 --> 00:28:55.039 eyesight. and eventually leading to the most 00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:59.319 severe outcome. In 1993, both her legs were amputated 00:28:59.319 --> 00:29:01.660 below the knee. It's an incredibly tragic end 00:29:01.660 --> 00:29:03.920 for someone who began her career obsessed with 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:07.380 movement and dancing. That same year, 1993, she 00:29:07.380 --> 00:29:09.980 gave her last public performance. She died three 00:29:09.980 --> 00:29:14.140 years later, on June 15, 1996, at age 79 in Beverly 00:29:14.140 --> 00:29:16.960 Hills, following a stroke. The day she died, 00:29:17.079 --> 00:29:20.150 the music world reacted immediately. Just hours 00:29:20.150 --> 00:29:22.710 after her death, the Playboy Jazz Festival launched 00:29:22.710 --> 00:29:24.910 at the Hollywood Bowl, and the organizers simply 00:29:24.910 --> 00:29:28.309 changed the marquee to read. Ella, we will miss 00:29:28.309 --> 00:29:31.109 you. Simple but powerful. Her legacy extends 00:29:31.109 --> 00:29:33.049 beyond the stage and records into philanthropy, 00:29:33.390 --> 00:29:36.700 doesn't it? Yes. In 1993, while already suffering 00:29:36.700 --> 00:29:39.240 from severe health complications, she established 00:29:39.240 --> 00:29:41.839 the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation. It 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:43.900 focuses on academic opportunities for children, 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:46.180 music education, care for the less fortunate, 00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:48.859 and medical research into diabetes, heart disease, 00:29:48.980 --> 00:29:51.279 and vision impairment. Her volume of accolades 00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:53.759 is just staggering. 14 Grammy Awards, including 00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:56.740 the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1967, and a 00:29:56.740 --> 00:29:59.460 crucial historical marker. In 1958, she became 00:29:59.460 --> 00:30:01.380 the first African American woman to win at the 00:30:01.380 --> 00:30:03.910 inaugural Grammy show. She broke that barrier 00:30:03.910 --> 00:30:06.730 at the very start of the awards. Beyond the Grammys, 00:30:06.750 --> 00:30:08.670 she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 00:30:08.869 --> 00:30:11.269 the National Medal of Arts, and was inducted 00:30:11.269 --> 00:30:13.849 into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Even 00:30:13.849 --> 00:30:16.589 decades after her death, Rolling Stone ranked 00:30:16.589 --> 00:30:20.670 her at number 45 on their 2023 list of the 200 00:30:20.670 --> 00:30:23.849 greatest singers of all time. Her historical 00:30:23.849 --> 00:30:27.180 record is meticulously preserved. Her career 00:30:27.180 --> 00:30:29.519 archives are shared between the Smithsonian and 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:31.839 the U .S. Library of Congress. And interestingly, 00:30:32.059 --> 00:30:34.319 her extensive cookbook collection was donated 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:36.859 to the Schlesinger Library at Harvard. And Harvard 00:30:36.859 --> 00:30:38.859 later gave her an honorary doctorate of music 00:30:38.859 --> 00:30:41.880 in 1990. Which stands in sharp contrast to her 00:30:41.880 --> 00:30:44.640 turbulent, truncated academic start in Yonkers 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:47.119 and Harlem. Her impact is global and enduring. 00:30:47.380 --> 00:30:49.200 She's mentioned in Stevie Wonder's Sir Duke. 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:51.900 Frank Sinatra paid personal homage to Lady Ella 00:30:51.900 --> 00:30:54.299 in his recording of Mack the Knife. And showing 00:30:54.299 --> 00:30:56.920 her international reach, the French singer France 00:30:56.920 --> 00:30:59.200 Gall scored a massive hit across Europe with 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:02.500 the tribute song Ella, Ella. And there are physical 00:31:02.500 --> 00:31:06.579 memorials, bronze sculptures in Yonkers and in 00:31:06.579 --> 00:31:09.119 Montreux, Switzerland. She was honored with a 00:31:09.119 --> 00:31:11.839 U .S. postage stamp in 2007 and featured in a 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:14.640 Google Doodle in 2013. Solidifying her place 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:17.289 in the collective memory. So let's unpack what 00:31:17.289 --> 00:31:19.670 this entire deep dive means for you. When we 00:31:19.670 --> 00:31:22.069 look back at Ella Fitzgerald, we see this incredible 00:31:22.069 --> 00:31:25.750 transformative arc. She had to navigate a genuinely 00:31:25.750 --> 00:31:29.569 difficult youth, the reformatory, the street 00:31:29.569 --> 00:31:31.970 life before finding stability, and her voice 00:31:31.970 --> 00:31:34.349 with Chick Webb. The resilience required to emerge 00:31:34.349 --> 00:31:36.210 from that background and achieve her level of 00:31:36.210 --> 00:31:39.480 precision is just. It's astounding. She mastered 00:31:39.480 --> 00:31:41.880 the seismic shifts in jazz, moving seamlessly 00:31:41.880 --> 00:31:44.059 from swing, absorbing the avant -garde complexity 00:31:44.059 --> 00:31:46.619 of bebop, and establishing scat as a high art 00:31:46.619 --> 00:31:48.720 form. But her greatest cultural influence came 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:50.799 from that calculated decision orchestrated by 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:53.220 Norman Granz to prioritize accessibility. She 00:31:53.220 --> 00:31:55.519 packaged the Great American Songbook for a broad 00:31:55.519 --> 00:31:57.839 national audience, performing a massive act of 00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:00.359 cultural integration. And that entire journey 00:32:00.359 --> 00:32:03.819 was underpinned by a constant, tenacious battle 00:32:03.819 --> 00:32:06.720 against racial discrimination, a battle she often 00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:08.779 fought. through lawsuits and through the powerful, 00:32:08.980 --> 00:32:12.240 non -negotiable demands of Norman Granz. Their 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:13.940 partnership proved that an artist's cultural 00:32:13.940 --> 00:32:16.779 power can be used as a structural force for social 00:32:16.779 --> 00:32:18.720 change. Here's where it gets really interesting 00:32:18.720 --> 00:32:20.539 for you, the listener, and something to mull 00:32:20.539 --> 00:32:24.059 over. Her absolute career peak, the songbooks, 00:32:24.259 --> 00:32:27.279 was a strategic decision to prioritize broad 00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:30.579 appeal, to make herself accessible to the masses 00:32:30.579 --> 00:32:33.359 over the specialized, technically complex field 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:35.940 she dominated, which was pure bebop. She had 00:32:35.940 --> 00:32:37.599 to step up. outside her comfort zone and her 00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:39.859 specialized knowledge base to achieve lasting 00:32:39.859 --> 00:32:42.299 cultural immortality. So the provocative thought 00:32:42.299 --> 00:32:44.900 we leave you with is this. If the strategic decision 00:32:44.900 --> 00:32:47.779 to prioritize accessibility, the songbooks, defined 00:32:47.779 --> 00:32:50.519 her lasting legacy and her cultural reach, how 00:32:50.519 --> 00:32:53.400 often is a true enduring career peak found by 00:32:53.400 --> 00:32:55.920 looking beyond one specialized field and finding 00:32:55.920 --> 00:32:58.200 a way to connect with a broader general audience? 00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:02.029 What aspect of her extraordinary journey from 00:33:02.029 --> 00:33:04.329 being deemed too disheveled to perform at the 00:33:04.329 --> 00:33:06.930 Apollo to becoming the first lady of song, speaks 00:33:06.930 --> 00:33:09.910 most strongly to the idea of art fundamentally 00:33:09.910 --> 00:33:12.269 transcending incredibly difficult circumstances. 00:33:12.630 --> 00:33:14.710 That's the deep dive for today. Go listen to 00:33:14.710 --> 00:33:16.970 Ella in Berlin. Mack the Knife. You won't regret 00:33:16.970 --> 00:33:18.650 hearing that brilliant improvisation.