The Ella Fitzgerald Companion - (Companions to Celebrated Musicians) by Norman David (Hardcover)

About the Book

The Ella Fitzgerald Companion is a celebration of the woman who is arguably musical history's greatest singer of popular. An international superstar of jazz and popular music, Fitzgerald boasted astounding versatility and sophistication that covered the entire musical spectrum, and her combination of incredible vocal flexibility, precise diction and articulation, accurate improvising skills, and a huge repertoire remains unmatched. This guide to her sixty-year career-including her recordings, her important influences, and her collaborators-offers an overview of the evolution of American popular singing in the twentieth century through the lens of its greatest interpreter.

Interspersed throughout the text are over eighty transcribed examples of recorded performances by Fitzgerald and a number of her influences, illuminating her genius in an unprecedented way. With accompanying discussions in both descriptive and musical language, this unique collection of transcriptions is accessible to musicians and non-musicians alike. Concluding the volume is a comprehensive discography of all the important Fitzgerald albums that have been re-issued to date on compact disc, offering the reader a practical way to become acquainted with one of the twentieth century's true musical pioneers.

Book Synopsis

The Ella Fitzgerald Companion is a celebration of the woman who is arguably musical history's greatest singer of popular. An international superstar of jazz and popular music, Fitzgerald boasted astounding versatility and sophistication that covered the entire musical spectrum, and her combination of incredible vocal flexibility, precise diction and articulation, accurate improvising skills, and a huge repertoire remains unmatched. This guide to her sixty-year career-including her recordings, her important influences, and her collaborators-offers an overview of the evolution of American popular singing in the twentieth century through the lens of its greatest interpreter.

Interspersed throughout the text are over eighty transcribed examples of recorded performances by Fitzgerald and a number of her influences, illuminating her genius in an unprecedented way. With accompanying discussions in both descriptive and musical language, this unique collection of transcriptions is accessible to musicians and non-musicians alike. Concluding the volume is a comprehensive discography of all the important Fitzgerald albums that have been re-issued to date on compact disc, offering the reader a practical way to become acquainted with one of the twentieth century's true musical pioneers.

Review Quotes

"Using musical description and analysis of dozens of transcribed excerpts from Fitzgerald's recorded legacy, David provides a fresh approach to understanding the music and career of jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald....[p]rovides a concise guide to musical terminology for those who might need such a primer. Well researched, with extensive endnotes and a detailed bibliography, discography, and videography, this book will be an important counterpart to the Fitzgerald biographies already in print....Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers."-Choice

?Using musical description and analysis of dozens of transcribed excerpts from Fitzgerald's recorded legacy, David provides a fresh approach to understanding the music and career of jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald....[p]rovides a concise guide to musical terminology for those who might need such a primer. Well researched, with extensive endnotes and a detailed bibliography, discography, and videography, this book will be an important counterpart to the Fitzgerald biographies already in print....Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.?-Choice

About the Author

NORMAN DAVID is a musician, author, and educator, currently on the music faculties of The University of the Arts (Philadelphia) and Franklin & Marshall College. A past recipient of a Fellowship Grant in Jazz Composition from the National Endowment for the Arts, he is also the author of Jazz Arranging.