I went to Emerson College. It’s a weird spot. It’s located in the heart of Boston, most widely known as a film/ theater school with a student body that has a propensity for cigarette smoking and homosexuality. Perfect for a surly libertarian that doesn’t really give a fuck about much of anything right? Not exactly. Granted I enjoyed my time there but generally I took issue with the lackadaisical attitude of a majority of the populace. The credits required seemed to be a bit of a joke. I was a film student, yet for a reason that was beyond me, I was required to take music classes. What the fuck was I going to do with music classes? Should I not be studying my craft? (I read this back and hated myself for using my craft”. I left it in so you all could hate me too.)
I had always liked music. I just couldn’t find the justification in a film student taking classes, what with the tuition. What was I going to do with that? Get inspired and start playing the piccolo? Did I mention that I was pretty close-minded?
Regardless of how I felt, it was a credit requirement. So I took The History of American Music. It was the most vague topic of lecture that I could find. After we powered through a few, hymns, John Phillip Sousa, and some bullshit that got played on the fife, we got into the real stuff: The Jazz Age. My knowledge of this era was extremely limited. My only real knowledge from the eras prior to the grunge movement consisted of what I heard while my grandmother baked. It was usually Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin. Not exactly the jazziest stuff on the planet, but I was always fascinated with the big bands. It was something that just didn’t exist any more.
One day in class my Professor popped in a cassette tape. I heard the familiar trumpet of Louis Armstrong. It was soon followed by his low gravelly voice. That alone really is bliss. It’s simple and perfect.
His voice was soon replaced with the velvety smooth tone of Ella Fitzgerald. I had never heard her before. I was caught off guard and then suddenly put into a state of awe.
Now this was an early morning class. It was reached by trudging throught the snowy streets of Boston in mid-November. Boston gets fucking cold. That is an unpleasant walk man. But Ella’s voice…Ella’s voice was a warm embrace. It brought the feeling back to my fingers. You can’t help from being overtaken by it. Succumbing to its charms. AOTW LEGEND: Ella Fitzgerald.
Here is that first song I heard Louis and Ella’s collab for Gee Baby Ain’t I Good To You.
Fitzgerald was born in 1917 in rural Virginia. Her mother and father soon split so Ella and her mother hoofed it to Yonkers, NY. Once there her mother and then stepfather did what they could to get by. Ella even chipped in by running 
money for local gamblers. Young Ella suffered a tragic loss early in her life when her mother died from injuries suffered during a violent car wreck in 1932. Her stepfather died soon after from a sudden heart attack. Ella was forced to move in with her aunt. All of the trauma stirred something in her. She began to act out until she ran into trouble with the police. She was then forced to live in a state facility until she broke out and went on the run. The Great Depression was in full swing and Ella was now free, but completely broke and alone. She was 15. She had always sung songs with her mother but she didn’t take it to the stage until 1935. She decided to do so on the legendary Apollo Amateur night. Not enough is made of this. The Apollo Amateur night was and is notorious. The crowd is raucous and more than happy to tell you that you in fact suck. Ella killed it. She killed it so hard, they wanted an encore.
The rest was history. Ella went on to become regarded as the greatest Jazz singer of the last century. She worked with every great artist (Lois Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra) and selling over 40 million albums in her lifetime. You know you’ve made it when you get a sketch of yourself from Pablo Picasso.
After that first listen I was hooked. I offered to buy the cassette off of my teacher. Instead she just gave it to me. I wore that thing out. It began to occur to me that Maybe College wasn’t just about the basics. Maybe I needed to expand my horizons. That tape, was my epiphany.
I’m not doing this lady justice here. Really I don’t think I have the words to express how I feel about Ella. Go check her out and I know that you won’t regret it.
If this scatting bit isn’t enough to get you hooked then we shouldn’t hang.
Big Hugs Kelly
