The Divas of
Jazz!!!
Miss Browning’s
Bach to Rock
Music Appreciation
11th-12th Grade
December 11th, 2005
A
Diva
Hat
Trick
Billie Holiday
Ella
Fitzgerald
Sarah
Vaughan
Miss Browning’s “quote” of the day!
“These women are from a time,
when the main requirement for being a singer...
Was that you had to be able to sing…”
(Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Hilary duff
Have NOTHING on these ladies!)
Billie Holiday
(Lady Day)
Born Eleanor Fagan on,
April 7th, 1915
Her Mother was 13 and her
Father was 15. They divorced
when she was 3 years old
First Success at The Apollo
Theatre on November 23rd, 1934.
Limited range (just over an octave)
Compensated with impeccable
timing, phrasing and emotion
Nick Named “Lady Day”
Trademark White Gardenia in her
hair.
Billie Holiday (Lady Day)
One of the 1st black jazz singers to
perform with white musicians.
Still forced to use back entrance
and wait in a dark room away from
the audience.
Popular songs: “I cried for you”,
“Billie’s Blues”, “My Man”.
Miss Browning’s Favorites:
“Summertime”, “The Man I
Love”, “God Bless the Child”.
Billie Holiday (Lady Day)
Drug and Alcohol Abuser L
Started with marijuana at an
early age
Spent 8 months in prison for
Heroin possession.
Abusive Relationships
Ruined her talent and
undoubtedly ended her
career.
Died on July 17th, 1959 at
age 44, with only $0.70 in
her bank account.
DRUGS ARE BAD!!!!!!
JUST SAY NO!!!!!!!!!
Ella Fitzgerald (First Lady of
song)
Born April 25th, 1917 in Newport
News, Virginia
Grew up poor and homeless
Most popular female jazz singer in
the USA for more than ½ a
century.
Voice: Flexible, wide ranging,
accurate and effortless.
Scat was magnificent. Could
imitate every instrument in the
orchestra.
Won 13 Grammy Awards and
sold over 40 million records
Ella Fitzgerald (First Lady of
Jazz)
Big Break: The Apollo Stage
Was set to dance but would
have been showed up by “The
Danciest Sisters around”. –
Ella
Faced with boos she asked the
band to play one of her
father’s favorite songs, “Hoagy
Carmichael’s Judy”.
Audience demanded an
encore
Went on to work with all of
the jazz greats!
Ella Fitzgerald (First Lady of
Song)
Ella was a very shy and reserved person offstage and
away from people she knew well.
She was self-conscious of her appearance and her
abilities.
Onstage, she had no fear!
Ella Fitzgerald (First Lady of
Song)
Died on June 15th, 1996 at
age 78 (Miss Browning was
15)
Recorded over 200 albums
and over 2,000 songs.
Popular songs: “A tisket a
tasket”, “Caravan”, “I’m
Beginning to See the Light”
Miss Browning’s Favorites:
“How High the Moon”
“The Boy from Impanema”
“Summertime”
Sarah Vaughan (Sassy)
Born March 27th, 1925 in
Newark, New Jersey
Nicknamed “Sassy”, and
“The Divine One”
8 years of piano lessons as a
child, sang in church
Voice: Great range, at least 3
octaves.
Powerful Scat Singer
Many felt should be an
opera singer (strong classical
voice)
Sarah Vaughan (Sassy)
Won amateur contest at The
Apollo Theatre singing
“Body and Soul”
Got a gig with Earl Hines
Big Band, but a musicians
strike kept her from
recording (1943-44)
Landed 5 year recording
contract with Columbia
Records (same label as
Destiny’s Child and Mariah
Carey)
Sarah Vaughan (Sassy)
Died April 3rd, 1990 just
after her 66th birthday
Recorded about 100 albums
Popular Songs: “Lover
Man”, “Perdido”, “Sassy’s
Blues”
Miss Browning’s Favorites:
“Honeysuckle Rose”, “Black
Coffee”, “Summertime”
Were you paying attention??
Where did all of our divas get their
big break??
(hint….it’s on after Saturday Night Live)
Who got it right?
The
Apollo Theatre
What else ya got?
Who wore a white gardenia in her hair
as her trademark?
Survey Says!!
“Lady Day”
Billie Holiday
Did you pick up on this?
What is Miss Browning’s favorite
Song??
It’s all coming back now!!
Summertime
You have got to get this one right!!
What does Miss Browning say about
DRUGS????
Say it together now!!!
Drugs are
BAD!!!
References
The Official Ella Fitzgerald Website (n.d.). Retrieved
December 4th, 2005 From www.ellafitzgerald.com
Ella Fitzgerald Tribute (n.d.) Retrieved December 4th, 2005
From http://www.public.iastate.edu/~vwindsor/Ella.html
First Lady of Song (The Ella Fitzgerald Web Site) (n.d.)
Retrieved December 4th, 2005 From
http://www.geocities.com/swing4243/
Billie Holiday from Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
(December 6th, 2005) Retrieved December 4th 2005
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday
The Unofficial Billie Holiday Website (n.d.) Retrieved
December 4th, 2005 http://www.ladyday.net/
References
A Tribute to Sarah Vaughan (n.d.) Retrieved December 4th,
2005 From http://parsecsanta.com/celebrity/celeb_pages/SarahVaughan.html
Sarah Vaughan Page (n.d.) Retrieved December 4th, 2005 From
http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Sarah%20Vaughn.html
WAER Jazz 88 - 50 Greatest Female Jazz Vocalists (n.d.)
Retrieved December 4th, 2005 From
http://www.waer.org/50women.html
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