1

Jacob Neville

MUSC 205

Spotlight Paper- Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald, a jazz vocalist whose career was over 50 years long, is considered one of

the greatest jazz musicians to date. Born in Newport News, Virginia on April 25 th, 19171, she

was born to William Fitzgerald and Temperance Henry, unmarried, and separated in 1919. After

her mother moved to New York, Fitzgerald began to enjoy dancing and loved to dance for her

friends at school 2, beginning to love performing. She would also hear songs that she loved in

church, and listened to Louis Armstrong, the Boswell sisters, and other jazz artists. She

especially loved the Boswell sisters, and tried to imitate the beautiful voice of the lead singer,

Connee Boswell 3. Much later, at age 17 in 1934, she was going to perform a dance at the Apollo

Theatre, but intimidated by a dance group she saw beforehand, decided to sing instead of dance,

and won first prize with her great voice, yet was not allowed to sing at the theatre for the next

week because of her appearance. After being discovered by Chick Webb and their orchestra and

testing with the band, she became a part of the orchestra, writing and performing with them. One

1
Tom Vitale, “Remembering Ella Fitzgerald, Who Made Great Songs Greater,” NPR, NPR, 25 Apr. 2017,
www.npr.org/2017/04/25/525583944/remembering-ella-fitzgerald-who-made-great-songs-greater.

2
“Seattle,” Warm 106.9, live.warm1069.com/listen/artist/54799c0e-eb45-4eea-996d-c4d71a63c499.

3
“Seattle,” Warm 106.9, live.warm1069.com/listen/artist/54799c0e-eb45-4eea-996d-c4d71a63c499.
 2

of the songs she co-wrote, “A Tisket a Tasket”, became the number one song in the United

States, the number one record of the decade 4, and helped her rise to stardom.

Ella Fitzgerald's legendary musical style not only soothed people during the Great

Depression and WWII on, but worked towards a movement even greater than her art, and

became a model for discriminated minorities and women in music and art to follow for the rest

of history.

Beginning in the early 20th century, many immigrants came to America to live a better

life than the life they had in their home country, and many of these people came to a town in

south eastern Louisiana, New Orleans, Many of the people coming from African and French

culture, with many others immigrating as well. As the cultures combined in this “melting pot”,

many of the people decided to play music together with their own cultures’ music tastes being

combined. One of the prominent parts of the music being made were the Afro-Cuban rhythms

being produced and played along with, making what would soon become jazz music. These

rhythms combined with other countries diverse musical culture would create one of the most

popular past times in the first half of 20 th century and make a business that many artists such as

Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald made music in that the people of the United

4Tom Vitale, “Remembering Ella Fitzgerald, Who Made Great Songs Greater,” NPR, NPR, 25 Apr. 2017,
www.npr.org/2017/04/25/525583944/remembering-ella-fitzgerald-who-made-great-songs-greater.
 3

States loved. Ella Fitzgerald in particular became very popular quickly because of her unique

singing style.

In her jazz career, Fitzgerald has sung many different types of jazz, from bop to swing,

ballad to blues, but through all her music, one thing remained the same, her unmistakable tone

and adaptability. She had a unique and strong tone that could go from belting widely to a narrow

whisper and still blend perfectly with the music played by the orchestra, which made her

possibilities endless in terms of musical potential. Her pitch, rhythm and dictation were always

perfect, something that is very important in music for many reasons. If your pitch is off and you

are out of tune, you will not sound good to an audience and will not be popular. If your rhythm is

off, you will not be able to perform well with other musicians in a combo or orchestra, and you

will not sound as great as you could. If your diction is not great, the people listening will not be

able to understand what you are singing about and will most likely not want to listen to you. On

top of all these characteristics that came to her naturally without lessons, she also enjoyed

listening to other instrumentalists solo, and decided that she wanted to sound like that as well.

Because of this, she began to scat, which is singing random syllables to the pitches you hear in

your head, like soloing on an instrument. However, Fitzgerald changed her voice to sound like a

trumpet or saxophone and did it so well that she instantly became famous for because no other

vocalist has scat like she had. All these musical qualities combined made Fitzgerald one on the

greatest jazz vocalists of all time, and something for modern jazz vocalists and instrumentalists

to study.

In modern jazz, musicians not only try to find new things to play and use in their playing,

but they look to the old masters to increase fluidity, melody making in soloing and tone. One

master that even instrumentalists look back to is Ella Fitzgerald. Vocalists look back to her
 4

because of her amazing tone and rhythm sense in jazz is a keystone for performing, and is

something that should always be practiced, but is easily studied from her. When instrumentalists

learn new standards or need to play a melody and make it sound like it makes sense, they need to

know the words. Since they need to know the words, they looks to vocalists that have sung the

songs to fully learn and understand the jazz piece, and since Fitzgerald has put out so many

records singing so many songs masterfully, instrumentalists often look to her to learn these tunes.

They also look to her when understanding faster soloing, referring to her scatting. While it is less

theoretical than someone like Charlie Parker or Louis Armstrong soloing, the intent and

emotional reason for the notes she is singing is always there. When you hear a melody or line in

your head to solo as instrumentalist, even Miles Davis cannot always get that line out because of

the instrument, but as a vocalist, you can instantly sing that line because it is much easier to sing

what you hear in your head, making Fitzgerald an important figure in melody making during

solos.

During WWII and the depression, many people turned to music listening and amateur

music making to feel better about life and help others feel that it will be alright. In 1944, famous

trombone player Glenn Miller joined the US Army, and got the chance to lead the 50-piece US

Army band and played over 800 shows for the troops during WWII in England 5. This was

important to the troops because it not only provided music for them to listen to, but a past-time

for the troops and gave them something else to think about besides the war and fighting going

5
David Moore, “Big Band in the Barracks: Looking Back at The Music of WWII and the Greatest Generation,” 17 May, 2013,
https://www.veteransunited.com/network/big-band-in-the-barracks-looking-back-at-the-music-of-wwii-and-the-greatest-
generation/.
 5

on. Fitzgerald also had performed in that era, but instead of soothing the troops, she soothed the

people back at home.

During WWII, Fitzgerald toured throughout the United States playing large and small

shows across the country. While these shows were intended for the citizens of the United States,

many troops stationed in the United States also attended these concerts and eventually started to

tour with the United Service Organizations (USO) for the troops in the USA. Fitzgerald was one

of 7,000 performers in the USO that played a total of 428,521 shows across the nation for the

troops6. However, these experiences were not the best for the African American performers, and

Fitzgerald sung against the discrimination and hate.

As an African American performer, Ella Fitzgerald was subjected to much criticism and

discrimination, even for the troops and USO. Even though the rules of the USO state that they

were not allowed to discriminate among their performers, they still would not integrate clubs to

include African American performers if the community was not willing to 7. In the 375 clubs the

USO was involved with, only about 100 of them allowed African American performers, some of

them only being allowed because white servicemen were not allowed in the clubs. One of the

reasons she signed with Norman Granz, her manager, was because he was a civil rights activist

and fought against discrimination while booking shows for her. During one of her shows in

6
Malloryk, “First Lady of Song: Ella Fitzgerald and World War II: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans,” The National
WWII Museum | New Orleans, The National World War II Museum, 28 Feb. 2020,
www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/first-lady-song-ella-fitzgerald-and-world-war-ii.

7
Malloryk, “First Lady of Song: Ella Fitzgerald and World War II: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans,” The National
WWII Museum | New Orleans, The National World War II Museum, 28 Feb. 2020,
www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/first-lady-song-ella-fitzgerald-and-world-war-ii.
 6

Houston ended, Fitzgerald was arrested in her dressing room, along with Dizzy Gillespie. Even

though she was arrested because of her race, she recalls “being asked for her autograph”8 by the

policemen. Another memorable show she played was at the Mocambo nightclub, Los Angeles.

At first, the club denied her act because of her race, but a fan of Fitzgerald’s, Marilyn Monroe,

asked the club to let her in, and she would take a front row seat every night to increase the club’s

popularity. Because of this, she was the first African American to perform at the Mocambo

nightclub9. Another case of discrimination she faced was when she was going to fly out to a

concert, but the flight crew denied her access into the plane because of her race10. Even though

Fitzgerald faced discrimination everywhere she went, the people still loved her music, letting her

prevail as one of the most famous jazz musicians of all time. However, race was not the only

characteristic that people discriminated against, there was also her gender.

As a woman in the early 20th century, Fitzgerald did not have many options to perform,

as it was expected that men perform and women are housewives, or at least let the man perform.

While most of her discrimination was based on race, there was still some gender-based

discrimination, mainly that of women in music being sex symbols instead of artists. While she

always attempted to prevail through these stereotypes, she was nervous about how people viewed

her image, and since she was overweight for most of her career, worried that if she got bad

8
Malloryk, “First Lady of Song: Ella Fitzgerald and World War II: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans,” The National
WWII Museum | New Orleans, The National World War II Museum, 28 Feb. 2020,
www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/first-lady-song-ella-fitzgerald-and-world-war-ii.

9
Rebecca Kuske, “Ella Fitzgerald: Breaking down Racial Barriers with Her Voice,” National Museum of American History, 9
Mar. 2018, americanhistory.si.edu/blog/ella-fitzgerald-voice.

10
National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration,
www.archives.gov/exhibits/documented-rights/exhibit/section4/challenging-discrimination.html.
 7

reviews her career would be over. Even with these beliefs, and with her great music, many

reviews she received said she was purely a music icon, and not a sex symbol 11.

Throughout her career as a musician, she has received many awards to commemorate her

movements as a civil activist along with her music. Some of these awards include the Peabody

Award for Outstanding Contributions to Music in America, the NAACP Image Award for

Lifetime Achievement, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest non-military honor

that can be bestowed to a United States Citizen 12. While most of her awards are from the music

she has made and the people she has made happy with it, a quarter of her awards are from

humanitarian acts and civil rights leadership, making her an important icon for African American

women and musicians everywhere.

As a jazz musician that had small beginnings and slowly rose to the top of records sales

in the United States and became a important figure in the music she sung and the movements she

believed in, Ella Fitzgerald did more than just publish her art, but inspire women and minority

groups to fight against discrimination and do what you believe in.

11
Tom Vitale, “Remembering Ella Fitzgerald, Who Made Great Songs Greater,” NPR, NPR, 25 Apr. 2017,
www.npr.org/2017/04/25/525583944/remembering-ella-fitzgerald-who-made-great-songs-greater.

12
“Awards,” Ella Fitzgerald, 7 Apr. 2017, www.ellafitzgerald.com/about/awards.
 8

Bibliography
“Awards,” Ella Fitzgerald, 7 Apr. 2017, www.ellafitzgerald.com/about/awards.

“Seattle,” Warm 106.9, live.warm1069.com/listen/artist/54799c0e-eb45-4eea-996d-

c4d71a63c499.

Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson Quartet, Ella and Louis, Verve Records, 1956.

Rebecca Kuske, “Ella Fitzgerald: Breaking down Racial Barriers with Her Voice,” National

Museum of American History, 9 Mar. 2018, americanhistory.si.edu/blog/ella-fitzgerald-

voice.

Malloryk, “First Lady of Song: Ella Fitzgerald and World War II: The National WWII Museum:

New Orleans,” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, The National World War II

Museum, 28 Feb. 2020, www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/first-lady-song-ella-

fitzgerald-and-world-war-ii.

National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration,

www.archives.gov/exhibits/documented-rights/exhibit/section4/challenging-

discrimination.html.

Tom Vitale, “Remembering Ella Fitzgerald, Who Made Great Songs Greater,” NPR, NPR, 25

Apr. 2017, www.npr.org/2017/04/25/525583944/remembering-ella-fitzgerald-who-made-

great-songs-greater.

Rashida Braggs, “Jazz Diasporas: race, music and migration in post-World War II Paris,” 26

January, 2018.
 9

David Moore, “Big Band in the Barracks: Looking Back at The Music of WWII and the Greatest

Generation,” 17 May, 2013, https://www.veteransunited.com/network/big-band-in-the-

barracks-looking-back-at-the-music-of-wwii-and-the-greatest-generation/.