Ella Fitzgerald is without doubt one of the true great jazz artists of all time. Her long and outstandingly successful career is a testimony to the respect and talent this jazz improviser has amongst the music industry and general public, making her perhaps the most well-known and revered of her craft, alongside Sarah Vaughn, Lena Horne and Billie Holiday. She was born in Newport, New Virginia U.S.A on 25th April 1918, but due to the early death of her father, her mother took her to New York City. Her singing career started rather shakily, by singing with a glee club at school, but she preferred dancing at this early stage.
Ella suffered from chronic shyness, which was eventually overcome by winning several talent contests, reaching the top end of the talent show circuit at Harlem opera house, where some important people eventually spotted her. Many people appear to have come forward claiming to have discovered Ella, but the most plausible among those people were Benny Carter and John Hammond during her period with the Fletcher Henderson band, but it was the great producer, Norman Granz, who set her on the success trail as a solo singer, in the late 1940s. Ellaís career has enabled her to record or perform with other jazz greats such as Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, The Inkspots, Ray Brown, Joe Pass, Tommy Flanagan, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Nelson Riddle, Oscar Peterson, Count Basie and many other great musicians and artists over her lengthy career.
She has recorded entire albums of arranged songs composed by Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, and George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, Antonio Carlos Jobim and many others of course.
There are hundreds of great albums by this prolific artist on a whole variety of labels and she was still recording and performing vigorously until illness caught up with her until she unfortunately passed away in Beverly Hills on the 15th of June 1996.
Ella has been the subject of many books, TV shows and documentaries and there is vast footage of live concert material available, the recordings on this CD compilation album easily provide a great example of this giant of jazz ís excellent voice and improvisation.
This special collection brings together some of Ella’s most beloved festive performances, capturing the warmth, charm, and swing she brought to Christmas classics. Whether it’s a heartfelt ballad or an up-tempo holiday favourite, these tracks celebrate the joy of the season, making this album the perfect soundtrack for a jazz-filled Christmas.
