Ella Fitzgerald

Object Details

Artist

Herman Leonard, 1923 - 2010

Sitter

Ella Fitzgerald, 25 Apr 1917 - 15 Jun 1996

Exhibition Label

Hailed as the “First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald topped DownBeat magazine’s annual readers’ poll as the best female vocalist for seventeen consecutive years (1953–70). She was just a teenager when her victory in an amateur contest at Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater led to the opportunity to sing with Chick Webb’s orchestra in 1935. Fitzgerald soon secured her standing as a leading swing-era performer and scored a major hit with “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938). After Webb’s death in 1939, she led his orchestra for three years before launching a highly successful solo career. With a supple voice that spanned three octaves, as well as an immense talent for improvisational “scat” singing, Fitzgerald built a wide-ranging repertoire encompassing jazz and popular song. Her long and fruitful association with jazz impresario Norman Granz resulted in the legendary series of “songbook” recordings that marked Fitzgerald as one of the greatest interpreters of American popular music.

Aclamada como la “Primera Dama de la Canción”, Ella Fitzgerald permaneció en el tope de la encuesta anual de la revista DownBeat como mejor vocalista femenina durante diecisiete años consecutivos (1953–70). Era todavía adolescente cuando ganó un concurso de aficionados en el famoso Teatro Apollo de Harlem que le dio la oportunidad de cantar con la orquesta de Chick Webb en 1935. Pronto consolidó su posición como intérprete cimera de la era del swing y en 1938 logró un éxito importante con “A-Tisket, A-Tasket”. Al morir Webb en 1939, Fitzgerald quedó a la cabeza de la orquesta por tres años para luego lanzarse a una triunfante carrera de solista. Con un amplísimo rango vocal de tres octavas y un inmenso talento para improvisar el scat, Fitzgerald cultivó un abarcador repertorio de jazz y canciones populares. Su larga y fructífera asociación con el empresario Norman Granz produjo la legendaria serie de discos dedicados cada uno a un compositor (los songbooks), los cuales aseguraron su sitial como una de las mejores intérpretes de música popular estadounidense.

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

1949 (printed 1998)

Object number

NPG.2014.111.10

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Copyright

© Herman Leonard Photography LLC

Type

Photograph

Medium

Selenium-toned gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image: 30.1 × 41.2cm (11 7/8 × 16 1/4")

Sheet: 40.6 × 50.5cm (16 × 19 7/8")

Frame: 56.5 × 71.8 × 3.8 cm (22 1/4 × 28 1/4 × 1 1/2")

Place

United States\New York\Kings\New York

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Interior

Music\Musical instrument

Equipment\Sound Devices\Microphone

Ella Fitzgerald: Female

Ella Fitzgerald: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Singer\Jazz

Ella Fitzgerald: Presidential Medal of Freedom

Ella Fitzgerald: Grammy

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.2014.111.10

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm43d4ab991-6f88-4f18-aebc-df5eeba8cd18