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Hey everyone! Finals are nearly over and I can finally breathe again, so I’m back! 🙂 It’s a new month and that means it’s time for a new Living History figure! This month, we’ll be learning about jazz great Ella Fitzgerald.
When I was young, I remember hearing my mom speak about Ella a few times and I remember seeing her on television during the 80s. I’d never seen her name written out, so I always thought her name was “Elephants Gerald”…lol.
A few years back, Jay and I were watching PBS and we came across a live performance of Ella singing with Frank Sinatra. I was stunned at how powerful her voice was and how she could just sit down and sing without looking like she was even trying.
Here she is with Sinatra performing “Goin’ Out of My Head”:
See what I mean? She’s just sitting there and yet her voice is wayyyy up in that high octave! Not many singers today could hit those notes even if they strained.
Unfortunately, I don’t know much about Ella other than what I saw on TV, so it’s time to get to know her better. Here are a few of the books about Ella Fitzgerald we’ll be using this month:
Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa
Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography Of The First Lady Of Jazz
Ella Fitzgerald: The Complete Biography of First Lady of Jazz, Updated Edition
Be sure to stop back by on December 30 to see what we learned about Ella Fitzgerald’s life and career this month!
[…] another entry in our Living History series. You might remember that we were supposed to talk about Ella Fitzgerald in our Living History unit last month. Well, Finals Week happened and work happened and, […]