The 25th Annual Ella Fitzgerald Music Festival in Newport News
Ella Fitzgerald was born in Newport News in 1917. Often referred to as the “First Lady of Song,” “Queen of Jazz,” and “Lady Ella,” we prefer to call her a Newport News trailblazer. A revolutionary jazz singer, Ella was known for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a “horn-like” improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.
Ella found musical success with the Chick Webb Orchestra, performing across the country. Her rendition of the nursery rhyme “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” helped boost her to national fame. She left the orchestra in 1942 to begin her solo career. It was during this time that she started including scat singing as a major part of her performance repertoire, saying “I just tried to do [with my voice] what I heard the horns in the band doing.”
While Ella appeared in films and as a guest on popular television shows in the second half of the twentieth century, her musical collaborations with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and The Ink Spots were some of her most notable acts outside her solo career. Her musical collaborations produced some of her best-known songs, including “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” “Cheek to Cheek,” “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall,” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing).”
Her many awards are a reflection of the colossal inspiration she was to many. Her accolades included 14 Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts, the NAACP’s inaugural President’s Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In addition to music, Ella was a child welfare advocate and supported disadvantaged youth. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Ronald Reagan in 1987 and honorary doctorates from Yale, Dartmouth, and several other universities.
Join the City of Newport News as we celebrate Ella during the 25th Annual Ella Fitzgerald Music Festival. From April 20 – 22, the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center will be alive with incredible local and national artists, all honoring Ella’s wide-ranging and ageless talents. For more information, visit www.downinggross.org or call 757-247-8950.