Nickname: The First Lady of Songs
Genre: Jazz / Pop
Most Memorable Recording: "How High the Moon"
Followers: St. Vincent, Jesse Palter, Erin Boheme, Alexa Ray Joel, Sandy Dennison, KT Tunstall, Linnzi Zaorski, Sophie Milman, Katie Melua, Christina Machado, Soluna, Jaguar Wright, John Larkin, CéU, Jackie Tice, Alex Pangman, Roberta Gambarini, E.J. Decker, Bilal, Stacie Orrico, Jane Monheit, Cibelle, Ithamara Koorax, David Leshare Watson, Karen Shane, Uvee Hayes, Trina Hamlin, Jody Sandhaus, Connie Evingson, Monica Hatch, Judy Barnett, Judy Argo, Alice Day, Joe Lee Wilson, Hanna Richardson, Flora Purim, Maria Howell, Kate McGarry, Sylvia Syms, Eileen Farrell, Jackie Paris, Connee Boswell, Norma Winstone, Dakota Staton, Helen Merrill, Gloria Lynne, Karin Krog, Billy Harper, Fionna Duncan, Urszula Dudziak, Miriam Makeba, Rosemary Clooney, and many more.
Genre: Jazz / Pop
Most Memorable Recording: "How High the Moon"
Followers: St. Vincent, Jesse Palter, Erin Boheme, Alexa Ray Joel, Sandy Dennison, KT Tunstall, Linnzi Zaorski, Sophie Milman, Katie Melua, Christina Machado, Soluna, Jaguar Wright, John Larkin, CéU, Jackie Tice, Alex Pangman, Roberta Gambarini, E.J. Decker, Bilal, Stacie Orrico, Jane Monheit, Cibelle, Ithamara Koorax, David Leshare Watson, Karen Shane, Uvee Hayes, Trina Hamlin, Jody Sandhaus, Connie Evingson, Monica Hatch, Judy Barnett, Judy Argo, Alice Day, Joe Lee Wilson, Hanna Richardson, Flora Purim, Maria Howell, Kate McGarry, Sylvia Syms, Eileen Farrell, Jackie Paris, Connee Boswell, Norma Winstone, Dakota Staton, Helen Merrill, Gloria Lynne, Karin Krog, Billy Harper, Fionna Duncan, Urszula Dudziak, Miriam Makeba, Rosemary Clooney, and many more.
"The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald was arguably the finest female jazz singer of all time (although some may vote for Sarah Vaughan or Billie Holiday). Blessed with a beautiful voice and a wide range, Fitzgerald could outswing anyone, was a brilliant scat singer, and had near-perfect elocution; one could always understand the words she sang. The one fault was that, since she always sounded so happy to be singing, Fitzgerald did not always dig below the surface of the lyrics she interpreted and she even made a downbeat song such as "Love for Sale" sound joyous. However, when one evaluates her career on a whole, there is simply no one else in her class.
Scott Yanow
* "Man, woman or child, Ella is the greatest of them all." - Bing Crosby
* "I call her the High Priestess of Song." - Mel Tormé
* "I didn't realize our songs were so good until Ella sang them." - Ira Gershwin
* "She had a vocal range so wide you needed an elevator to go from the top to the bottom. There's nobody to take her place." - David Brinkley
* "Her artistry brings to mind the words of the maestro, Mr. Toscanini, who said concerning singers, 'Either you're a good musician or you're not.' In terms of musicianship, Ella Fitzgerald was beyond category." - Duke Ellington
* "She was the best there ever was. Amongst all of us who sing, she was the best." - Johnny Mathis
* "She made the mark for all female singers, especially black female singers, in our industry." - Dionne Warwick
* "Her recordings will live forever... she'll sound as modern 200 years from now." - Tony Bennett
* "Play an Ella ballad with a cat in the room, and the animal will invariably go up to the speaker, lie down and purr." - Geoffrey Fidelman (author of the Ella Fitzgerald biography, First Lady of Song)
