I found it very interesting that although Ella Fitzgerald is famous for her music today, she did not always want to be a musician. Her original goal to be a dancer and her change of heart after seeing the skill of another act, is not what many would associate with the legend in the music world. I also found it surprising that she did not find fame easily, as throughout the majority of her early career she sang on the street. Only later on in life did she begin to release her own songs through her record label. Kashaf did a good job in describing Ella Fitzgerald’s music career, as well as describing the different styles of music she used, such as scat. Although I am familiar with Fitzgerald’s famous pieces, I never realized how many different genres she covered. Kashaf also tied Fitzgerald into our course themes effectively. I agree that Ella Fitzgerald’s music revealed the changing times in New York and the country as a whole at the time. This theme can be seen in the work of many musicians of the time, as they were largely influenced by their surroundings.
Like Katherine, I find it fascinating how Ella Fitzgerald was always focused on becoming a dancer and how at the last minute, at a competition, decides to do a singing routine instead. It seems as if it was fate that the act before her was doing a dance routine, because otherwise she would’t have decided to sing for her act which wouldn’t have lead her to fame and success as a singer. It was unfortunate that she discovered her singing talents during the Great Depression because she wasn’t able to find any gigs that payed. I’ve always known Ella Fitzgerald to be one of the more famous singers of her time especially because of her scat and bebop style of singing. But I’d like to note how she was probably one of the first female scat singers because all the other scat singers that Kashaf mentioned were male such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. Only Billie Holiday was the other female jazz singer that was mentioned. That may be another feature that makes Ella Fitzgerald so legendary.
I think what I loved learning the most about Ella Fitzgerald was that she had a beaming personality and her voice allowed everyone to forget about their troubles as Kash mentioned. I think her life story, as Kash illustrated, also shows an optimistic side to the struggle of accomplishing one’s dreams. I think Fitzgerald being in the heart of New York and growing up with her single mother, then her aunt, only showed Ella that being a woman in the big city wouldn’t be easy. But we learn that Ella made it look easy. Her struggles of playing amateur gigs for a year in the beginning and then not being truly noticed until after the Great Depression, show us as the audience that it takes hard work and determination to make your dreams come true in the big apple.
I found it very interesting that although Ella Fitzgerald is famous for her music today, she did not always want to be a musician. Her original goal to be a dancer and her change of heart after seeing the skill of another act, is not what many would associate with the legend in the music world. I also found it surprising that she did not find fame easily, as throughout the majority of her early career she sang on the street. Only later on in life did she begin to release her own songs through her record label. Kashaf did a good job in describing Ella Fitzgerald’s music career, as well as describing the different styles of music she used, such as scat. Although I am familiar with Fitzgerald’s famous pieces, I never realized how many different genres she covered. Kashaf also tied Fitzgerald into our course themes effectively. I agree that Ella Fitzgerald’s music revealed the changing times in New York and the country as a whole at the time. This theme can be seen in the work of many musicians of the time, as they were largely influenced by their surroundings.
Like Katherine, I find it fascinating how Ella Fitzgerald was always focused on becoming a dancer and how at the last minute, at a competition, decides to do a singing routine instead. It seems as if it was fate that the act before her was doing a dance routine, because otherwise she would’t have decided to sing for her act which wouldn’t have lead her to fame and success as a singer. It was unfortunate that she discovered her singing talents during the Great Depression because she wasn’t able to find any gigs that payed. I’ve always known Ella Fitzgerald to be one of the more famous singers of her time especially because of her scat and bebop style of singing. But I’d like to note how she was probably one of the first female scat singers because all the other scat singers that Kashaf mentioned were male such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. Only Billie Holiday was the other female jazz singer that was mentioned. That may be another feature that makes Ella Fitzgerald so legendary.
I think what I loved learning the most about Ella Fitzgerald was that she had a beaming personality and her voice allowed everyone to forget about their troubles as Kash mentioned. I think her life story, as Kash illustrated, also shows an optimistic side to the struggle of accomplishing one’s dreams. I think Fitzgerald being in the heart of New York and growing up with her single mother, then her aunt, only showed Ella that being a woman in the big city wouldn’t be easy. But we learn that Ella made it look easy. Her struggles of playing amateur gigs for a year in the beginning and then not being truly noticed until after the Great Depression, show us as the audience that it takes hard work and determination to make your dreams come true in the big apple.