The Dress Circle: Ella Fitzgerald and Her Songbooks

One of our favorite singers will be featured on this week’s Dress Circle (10/8  7:00 p.m.) as we look at the legendary Ella Fitzgerald through her incredible series of recordings that are catalogued under the “Songbook” Title.  Fitzgerald, who began singing by chance in 1934 when her name was drawn at random to be a contestant in an amateur contest at the Apollo Theatre, wowed the audience with her rendition of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Judy” at the spur of the moment.  She had intended to dance but changed her mind at the last minute.  She would go on to be known as the “First Lady of Song” for the rest of her career that lasted until her death in 1996.  Of the eight Songbook albums, we’ll be looking at the works of Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, and George and Ira Gershwin to celebrate Fitzgerald’s fabulous abilities.