Ella Fitzgerald, also known as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz and Lady Ella, was undoubtedly one of the greatest , if not the greatest, jazz singers of the 20th century. With a vocal range spanning three octaves, she was distinguished by the purity of her tone as well as her almost impeccable phrasing and intonation. She could sing sensual ballads, smooth jazz and imitate every instrument in an orchestra. During a recording career that spanned nearly 60 years, she won thirteen Grammy Awards, sold more than 40 million albums, and received the National Medal of Art from President Ronald Reagan. His voice provided hope throughout the Harlem Renaissance and influenced many other American singers. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The Queen of Jazz was born as Ella Jane Fitzgerald in Newport News, Virginia on April 25, 1917, to his father, William, and mother, Temperance, more commonly known as “Tempie”. His parents eventually separated shortly after his birth. Because of this, Tempie made the decision to move her and Ella to Yonkers, New York, where they would ultimately stay with Tempie's longtime boyfriend, Joseph Da Silva, also known as Joe . A few years later, Ella's half-sister Frances was born in 1923. Ella began to accept Joseph as her father around this time, as he was the one who helped raise her. Due to financial difficulties, Joseph and Tempie worked two jobs. Ella took on various odd jobs from time to time in an effort to try to help her parents. A job was even reserved for local players as a runner taking their bets and depositing money. Their apartment was in a mixed neighborhood, and Ella often attended baseball games in the neighborhood. She loved dancing and singing with her friends and sometimes at the Apollo Theater they would take the train to Harlem to see various shows. In 1932, Tempie died after being seriously injured in a car accident. Ella took the loss of her mother very seriously. hard. Tempie's sister Virginia brought Ella home after staying with Joe a little longer. Joe then suffered a heart attack shortly after leaving and died. Her little sister Frances then finds her. After her parents died, Ella became extremely sad and entered a difficult period in her life. Her grades dropped significantly and she often skipped school. After getting into trouble with the police, she was taken into custody and sent to a reform school. There she was beaten by her guards. Eventually, Ella escaped the reformatory, found herself broke and alone during the Great Depression, and struggled to endure. Never one to complain, Ella later reflected on her more difficult years, appreciating how they had helped her mature. She used memories from that time to help gather emotions for performances and felt more grateful for her success because she knew what it was like to struggle in life. She made her debut at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York, at the age of 17 in 1934, where she won the opportunity to participate in one of the premieres of its famous "Amateur Nights". Originally planning to go on stage and dance, but was intimidated by the local dance duo "Edwards Sisters", she chose to sing in the style of her idol, Connie Boswell. She sang “Judy” and “The Object of My Affections” by Hoagy Carmichael and anotherBoswell Sisters song that night. Ella quickly calmed the audience down and they demanded an encore at the end of the song. Off stage and away from people she knew well, Ella was shy and reserved. She was embarrassed by her appearance and even doubted the strength of her abilities for a while. Yet on stage, Ella was surprised to find that she had no fear. She felt at home in the spotlight. “Once I was up there, I felt the acceptance and love from my audience,” Ella said. 'I knew I wanted to sing in front of people for the rest of my life. She had the chance to perform for a week with the Tiny Bradshaw band at the Harlem Opera House in January 1935. She met Chick Webb, guitarist and bandleader, for the first time. . Webb had already hired singer Charlie Linton to play with the band, so he offered Ella the opportunity to test out with his band when they got a booking to play for dances at Yale University. Ella became very successful, then Webb hired her to travel with the group for $12.50 a week. In 1935, she began singing regularly with the Webb Orchestra at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Fitzgerald recorded several hit songs with them, including "You'll Have to Swing It, Mr. Paganini" and "Love and Kisses" (their first recording), but this was his 1938 nursery rhyme version, " A-Tisket, A- Tasket', which earned him praise from the general public. In fact, his first recording, Love and Kisses (released on the Decca label), brought only moderate success. On June 16, 1939, with Ella as bandleader, Chick Webb died and his band was renamed Ella Fitzgerald and Her Famous Orchestra. Ella began working regularly for jazz impresario Norman Granz and often performed at Philharmonic concerts. Fitzgerald's relationship with Granz was further strengthened when he became her manager, although it would be nearly a decade before he was able to record her on one of his many labels. With the end of the Swing era and the decline of big touring with big bands, a major change in jazz music occurred during this period. The rise of bebop brought a major change in Fitzgerald's vocal style, influenced by his work with Dizzy Gillespie's big band. Fitzgerald began to include scat singing as an important part of his performing repertoire around this time, along with his 1947 recordings of "Oh, Lady be Good!" » The success of "How Big the Moon" and "Flying Back" increased his reputation as one of jazz's leading singers. Perhaps in response to criticism and pressure from Granz who felt that Fitzgerald was sometimes given inappropriate material to record during this period, his final years on the Decca label saw Fitzgerald record a series of duets with pianist Ellis Larkins, released in 1950 under the name Ella Sings. Gershwin.Fitzgerald left the Decca label in 1955. She continued to perform at Granz's JATP concerts, and Granz, now her manager, founded the jazz record company, Verve, around her. In the mid-1950s, Ella became the first African American to perform at Mocambo, after Marilyn Monroe asked the owner for the reservation. This booking was instrumental in Fitzgerald's career. In 2008, the incident became a Bonnie Greer play. The eight "Songbooks" Fitzgerald recorded at irregular intervals between 1956 and 1964 for Verve reflect his most critically acclaimed and commercially successful work, and probably his most important contribution to American culture and the Harlem Renaissance. The composers and lyricists of each album represent most of the cultural canon known as.