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Ella Fitzgerald

National Portrait Gallery

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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

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