I think I know such an awful lot about the Great American Songbook, & then I will be introduced to some gem that has eluded me for decades. This winter, my friend- Little Jake brought me When I Get Low, I Get High, as sung by Ella Fitzgerald. He had thought the lyric was-“when I get HOME, I get high”, which Little Jake thought would have special relevance for me. I didn’t know this Harlem High Life tune, but now it is a favorite. Nice to have something old that is something new.
Certain artists just seem to reach through the restraints of listeners & fans of specific genres. It doesn’t make a difference if the bulk of your music collection is Heavy Metal, Rock, old style R&B, Funk, Hip Hop, Gospel, Show Tunes, Folk, Opera, or Symphonic Music; every music aficionado always has, at the very least, the Greatest Hits package of Patsy Cline, Aretha Franklin, & Ella Fitzgerald.
She was in my parents’ album collection & I remember hearing her from the earliest age. She possessed a true diversity in range & style, & a pure voice. She started as a swing singer, did bebop, perfected scat & jazz, but she sang modern songs as well as classics, plus Blues, Bossa Nova, Gospel, Calypso, & Christmas carols, She covered Cream’s Sunshine Of Your Love with as much skill & feeling as she did songs by Cole Porter. She could sing with a full orchestra, a band, a trio, or just with a guitar."
I am decidedly not into scat, it even says so on my Manhunt profile, but her scat is simply magnificent. She obviously made it up as she went along, & never stumbled, never repeated, & never became monotonous.
Johnny Mathis: “She was the best there ever was. Amongst all of us who sing, she was the best.” From her early days on Harlem streets to the adoration of all other top musicians, Ella Fitzgerald gave us 58 years of music, & with13 Grammys & 50+ million records sold; she remains, undeniably, the First Lady of Song. My favorite Ella recording I would have to be How High The Moon.
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