Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George And Ira Gershwin Song Book Speakers Corner Box

$

300

Ella Fitzgerald  Sings The George

And Ira Gershwin Song Book

Verve / Speakers Corner Records  – MG VS-6082-5

5 x  Vinyl  LP, Remastered, Limited Edition

1 x Vinyl EP, 10", Song Book, Box Set 

Germany, 2001

Five LP box set, bonus EP, hardback book and Bernard Buffet prints. Speakers Corner later issued a limited number of vinyl sets of this release in a frosted plastic sleeve without prints and book (Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George And Ira Gershwin Song Book).

5 LP Vinyls are NM with no visible surface wear, the 10” is NM/VG+. Clean labels. Box is NM, intact edges, no splitting, no cut-outs, clean and unmarked, no writing, no stains, no price stickers. Book is present and in like new condition.

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Ella Jane Fitzgerald  (April  25, 1917  – June  15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable  diction, phrasing, timing,  intonation,  absolute pitch, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her  scat singing. After a tumultuous adolescence, Fitzgerald found stability in musical success with the  Chick Webb  Orchestra, performing across the country but most often associated with the  Savoy Ballroom  in  Harlem. Her rendition of the nursery rhyme "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" helped boost both her and Webb to national fame. After taking over the band when Webb died, Fitzgerald left it behind in 1942 to start her solo career. Her manager was Moe Gale, co-founder of the Savoy, until she turned the rest of her career over to  Norman Granz, who founded  Verve Records  to produce new records by Fitzgerald. With Verve, she recorded some of her more widely noted works, particularly her interpretations of the  Great American Songbook.

Fitzgerald also appeared in films and as a guest on popular television shows in the second half of the twentieth century. Outside her solo career, she created music with  Louis Armstrong,  Duke Ellington, and  The Ink Spots. These partnerships produced songs such as "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "Cheek to Cheek", "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall", and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)". In 1993, after a career of nearly sixty years, she gave her last public performance. Three years later, she died at age 79 after years of declining health.  Her accolades  included 14  Grammy Awards, the  National Medal of Arts, the  NAACP's inaugural  President's Award, and the  Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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George Gershwin  (September 26, 1898  – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions  Rhapsody in Blue  (1924) and  An American in Paris  (1928), the songs "Swanee" (1919) and "Fascinating Rhythm" (1924), the jazz standards "Embraceable You" (1928) and "I Got Rhythm" (1930), and the opera  Porgy and Bess  (1935), which included the hit "Summertime". Gershwin studied piano under  Charles Hambitzer  and composition with  Rubin Goldmark,  Henry Cowell, and  Joseph Brody. He began his career as a  song plugger  but soon started composing Broadway theater works with his brother  Ira Gershwin  and with  Buddy DeSylva. He moved to Paris, intending to study with  Nadia Boulanger, but she refused him, afraid that rigorous classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style;  Maurice Ravel  voiced similar objections when Gershwin inquired about studying with him. He subsequently composed  An American in Paris, returned to New York City and wrote  Porgy and Bess  with Ira and  DuBose Heyward. Initially a commercial failure, it came to be considered one of the most important American operas of the 20th century and an American cultural classic. Gershwin moved to Hollywood and composed numerous film scores. He died in 1937, only 38 years old, of a brain tumor.  His compositions have been adapted for use in film and television, with many becoming jazz standards.