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Fitzgerald, Ella (1917-1996)

American jazz singer, admired for her superlative musicianship and her skill in scat singing (using the voice in an instrumental way by singing improvised syllables).

Born in Newport News, Virginia, and brought up in a New York orphanage, Fitzgerald was discovered at the age of 16, singing in a Harlem talent show. From 1934 until 1939 she sang with the Chick Webb Band, directing it for a time after the leader's death in 1939. In the mid-1940s, working with the American impresario Norman Granz, she toured Europe and Asia and performed in his Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts. In 1958 Fitzgerald appeared with Duke Ellington at Carnegie Hall in New York. She has also toured Europe frequently with the Oscar Peterson Trio. Among her later concert appearances was a performance at the 1985 Kool Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall. Her own compositions include “Oh, But I Do” and “You Showed Me the Way”.