Happy Birthday Ella Fitzgerald

Gone but definitely not forgotten, our dear, beloved Ella Fitzgerald would have been 99 now.

I can still recall the very first time she came in my life, it was trough some Jazz compilation found in public library - I was very young and just discovered that one can also get LP albums and not just books - the song she was singing on that album was Gershwin’s “Lady Be Good” (arranged as a ballad, not famous bebop version) which floored me and I thought it was just unbelievably sensual and angelic. Later in life I finally discovered her huge discography - its almost intimidating to even approach it since she was really hard-working and recorded tons of music during almost 60 years of singing - and after some initial reservations, now I truly love her sound. Those first reservations were superficial: I was so fascinated with suicidal torch of Billie Holiday that it took me forever to just relax and enjoy what Ella had to offer, her pure joy of music and sunny moments when your heart sings along with hers.

In honor of Ella’s 99 birthday I decided to re-visit one of the most famous albums in her discography, in fact it might even encapsulate who she was and where she wanted to go. Cleverly planned by her manager Norman Granz and arranged by incredibly young and precocious arranger Buddy Bregman, this double LP album brings respected middle-aged black Jazz singer into big time pop market without compromising her art and created international superstar out of her. It was probably business as usual for Granz who was a sharp deal maker and had excellent musicians at his disposal but 26 years old Bregman was the one who suggested the whole project as (according to his reminiscences) he always loved Broadway music, which back than was actually pop music of the day. Its fun to imagine Bergman arriving in with jeans and a T-shirt, full of ideas and passion, just to face singer who had absolutely no idea what sophisticated songs of Cole Porter actually meant - she was natural-born musician, schooled not by notes but on nightly tours and live performances, so all these talks about Dorothy Parker, Abelard and Heloise and such were little confusing to her. 

This is actually something that used to bother me for many years, the fact that Granz and Bergman decided to use hard-swinging, Appolo-winning and basically lighthearted singer who had absolutely no connections in her background for this sort of music, music that was from completely another world, world of risqué and jaded socialites who drank cocktails that servants handed to them - as Bergman himself remembers, his social status was very far removed from Fitzgerald’s and his only contact with black people were maids helping in his parent’s house. (Sounds like another planet today!) Majority of these songs were originally performed by stars of Broadway and occasional supper club artist like Mabel Mercer who would knowingly wink while singing witty little story that could have been quite dirty if read between the lines. 

That it actually worked out so perfectly just points at genius of Ella Fitzgerald who was magnificent singer, ready to expand out of the box where she was placed for two decades - she mainly worked in world of smoky, segregated nightclubs and handled little swing novelties like “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” simply because nobody gave her chance to do something different. Her recording company “Decca” gave her one delicious try on Gershwin but most of the time they served her novelty tunes that she sung so joyously that we secretly felt she actually liked them. At the age of 39 she was either destined to forever sing novelties or bebop which had limited, cult appeal amongst audiences. This album changed it all because it gave her perfect frame to show everything she was capable of as either ballad or swing singer - her by now rich, fruity voice cushioned by elegant orchestration made Cole Porter Songbook shine like gemstones and any reservation we might have towards assumed lack of involvement in lyrics evaporate before sheer beauty of music which Fitzgerald approached seriously. Perhaps its not quite what Cole Porter had in mind (upon hearing the recording, his now famous remark was only ambiguous compliment to singers clear diction) however his show music was now translated, packaged and marketed as classy 1950s pop and it went places like never before, establishing Fitzgerald as best-selling album artist and it started the whole phenomenon of Songbook tradition. I am still not 100% sure that Cole Porter is exactly right fit for the singer but my heart jumps every time Bregman gives her swinging tune like “Too Darn Hot”  where she bounces and swaggers way beyond anything composer could have imagined possible.

Sure, its all fairly mainstream - even involvement of some serious Jazz cats like Bud Shank and Harry "Sweets" Edison amongst musicians didn’t make it exactly Jazz album, they all played safe and square, songs are rarely extending 3 minute standards and the final results are occasionally so mellow (“I Get a Kick Out of You”) that all that softness might knock you off to sleep, but its exactly that reassuring, comforting quality that made it such a beloved classic in the whole world. This album gave a completely new life to old Cole Porter songs (“Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye” even charted as a hit single) and its still stands as a lesson in 1950s pop singing. I understand that some younger listeners today might find it all way too old fashioned and far removed from our times - even I resisted this album for many years, thinking Fitz played it too gingerly, just to find myself singing along with it today with pure joy. So we finally connected, some 60 years later.