REVIEWS

Once a week there will be a review take over: Throwback Thursdays, an album of the week with Dean Brown. This is a column that is partly run by y'all, too! If you have a recommendation for an album that you think could be good here, email me at dean.brown30@paceacademy.org .

Ella Fitzgerald was born April 25, 1917, in Newport News, Virginia. As a child, she would frequently go up to Harlem, New York and watch performances at the Apollo Theater. After her mother and father died, she and her sister went to live with their aunt, which took a toll on her well being. Her grades dropped, and she got into trouble with the law and ended up being sent to a reform school. Once she got out she was alone and broke in the middle of the Great Depression. She entered a small singing competition at the Apollo, where she then continued to sing and met Chick Webb, a bandleader who was fond of her. She continued to make music and perform all around the world for the rest of her life. Ella loved her job and continued it as long as she could until she died June 15, 1996.

This particular album, Get Happy is one of her gems, being that it is not an album made from a jazz songbook, like many others were. Released in 1959 by America’s jazz label, Verve, it includes her many versatile vocal styles in jazz. Some notable tracks from this album include Beat me Daddy Eight to the Bar, a bluesy cover of a jazz classic, and Cheerful Little Earful, a playful piece for a big jazz band. This song linked is Blue Skies, which includes her signature scatting style, going from octave to octave with her beautifully melodic voice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAa4teWb0rU  

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