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Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 4663
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 - 12:52 pm: | 
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Stars Salute Ella Fitzgerald at Concert
By JANICE RHOSHALLE LITTLEJOHN
April 30, 2007, 11:57 AM EDT
 
LOS ANGELES -- "You can only be an innovator once ... and I hate that," joked Patti Austin backstage at a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.
Austin joined host Natalie Cole, Wynonna Judd, Nancy Wilson and other singers and musicians covering tunes by Fitzgerald at the "We Love Ella: A Tribute to the First Lady of Song" on Sunday night.
The tribute, held at the University of Southern California's Galen Center, marked what would have been Fitzgerald's 90th birthday April 25. The singer died in 1996.
Backed by USC's Thornton Symphony and Jazz Orchestra, instrumentalists George Duke, James Moody and Jon Faddis covered Fitzgerald's classic 1950s recording "Lady Be Good." Newcomer Lizz Wright cooed "Lullaby of Birdland."
Saxman Dave Koz riffed with "American Idol" Ruben Studdard on "Do Nothing `Til You Hear From Me," and a capella act Take 6 bopped to an original tune inspired by Fitzgerald's stylings.
"When it comes to vocal scatting, we feel like we're her great-godsons," said Take 6 member Alvin Chea.
Stevie Wonder brought the audience to their feet with "Too Close for Comfort."
"Ella didn't care about the words because she thought like a horn," noted Quincy Jones, a longtime collaborator. "One of her biggest records, `Mack the Knife,' in Berlin, she forgot all the words."
Fitzgerald's own peerless sounds were showcased in a montage of never-before-released tunes. The songs will be featured on "Love Letters From Ella," a collection of rare recordings to be issued July 31 by Starbucks Entertainment and Concord Records.
"We Love Ella," produced by Phil Ramone and Gregg Field for Thirteen/WNET New York, airs June 6 on PBS. The companion tribute album will be released June 5 on Verve Records.
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/news/wire/sns-ap-people-ella-fitzgerald,0,4422504.story
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Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 2186
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 - 04:29 pm: |
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The ultimate diva. Only one and never will be another like her. We are blessed and privileged to have access to a legacy of great recordings she has left behind. A combination of class, style, grace, originality and an incredibly gifted vocalist. Something you do not see in the vapid mediocre at best music industry today.
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8484
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 - 04:49 pm: |
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What always amazed me about Ella is that she was reputed to have had perfect pitch and she never had any formal musical training. She was just a naturally-gifted artist. When she was a contestant on stage at Harlem's Apollo theater waaay back in the 1930s she was supposed to be a dancing act but once she sensed that the crowd was not impressed with her hoofing, she broke into song - and the rest is history! |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 4664
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 - 05:13 pm: |
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I guess it pays to be versatile  |
Urban_scribe
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Urban_scribe
Post Number: 424
Registered: 05-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 - 06:57 pm: |
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Steve Allen once remarked what made Ella Fitzgerald so popular was that you couldn't tell by listening to her whether she was Black or White. Therefore, she had a massive White audience; she was "safe" to listen to. Sad thing is, he was probably right. Talk about your backdoor compliments. Sheesh! |
Enchanted
Veteran Poster
Username: Enchanted
Post Number: 839
Registered: 11-2005
Rating: 
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 - 08:06 pm: |
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I doubt ay whites listening to radio thought she was a white woman but the same used to be said of Diana Ross and Dionne Warwick and they were more popular with whites than blacks too so I think what Steve Allen ment is that the style and arrangement of her music was non-black or better yet Ella sang to the same arrangement as Dinah Shore and Doris Day but with a black voice becaus she definitely sounds like a black woman. |
Yukio
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 2316
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 - 09:26 pm: |
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Steven Allen is a dunce. We know that white folk have always loved black music, especially the grittier music. |
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