DCist Preview: Ella! @ Kennedy Center
Ella Fitzgerald's contribution to jazz cannot be overstated. Beginning with her appearance in one of the earliest iterations of the storied Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in 1934, and through a career lasting six decades, she is in many ways the archetypal jazz vocalist. Her interpretations of classic jazz standards and the Great American Songbook are the standard, casting a shadow over all vocalists following in her footsteps.
"There were so many great things about her, it's too much to list," said vocalist Janis Siegel, best known as a member of the seminal jazz vocal group, Manhattan Transfer. "The purity of her tone, the sweetness of her voice, her rhythmic invention and playfulness when she was improvising. Her simplicity, really. I never heard her sing an off note."
On Sunday at the Kennedy Center, Siegel will take part in Ella!, an all-star tribute to the First Lady of Song. The concert will also feature celebrated vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater and Al Jarreau, along with The Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, under the direction of Antonio Hart.
The program will present the singers as soloists, in duos and trios. The show will cover the entire range of Fitzgerald's repertoire. Notably, in one segment, Jarreau is going to team up with Bridgewater and Siegel to recreate the legendary collaborations between Ella and Louis Armstrong.
The addition of a big band to this celebration not only adds some excitement to the evening, but is also totally appropriate, given that Fitzgerald's early work was during the big band era. This no doubt affected her approach to music, which is something to which Siegel can relate.
"When I got to college was when I got into jazz, and it was mainly instrumentalists, no vocalists," Siegel explained. "[Ella] listened to instrumentalists. The singers coming out of big band era heard great instrumentalists every night."
Siegel also recalled the time in her life when she became obsessed with Lady Ella's music. In particular, she cited the Songbook recordings as being influential, as well as a lesser known recording called Metronome All-Stars 1956.
"It's a jam session record with Count Basie's small band," said Siegel. "It sounds like they're just standing around the piano."
The Library of Congress granted the organizers of Sunday's concert special access to its collection of original sheet music that Fitzgerald used during recording sessions and live performances. So for much the event, the performers will be using these original charts to recreate the Ella experience.
"I expect the three of us singers to have a ball and enter the spirit of Ella," said Siegel.
Ella! takes place on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at the Kennedy Center. Tickets to the 7 p.m. show are sold out, but it's worth contacting the box office for last minute availability.