Ella Fitzgerald: America's First Lady of Song at Stanford Jazz Festival

Ella Fitzgerald set the gold standard for jazz singing and changed American music forever. Above all, she was an improviser of the first order, whose brilliant scat technique took melodic invention to new heights. To celebrate Ella’s legacy, Stanford Jazz presents two singers who have absorbed her influence and filtered it through their own unique sensibilities. Mary Stallings, whom the New York Times calls “perhaps the best jazz singer singing today,” spent time, like Ella, as a featured singer with Count Basie. Vocalist Kenny Washington is “an oversize talent who can scat with the harmonic daring and rhythmic command of a bebop saxophonist” (East Bay Express). The ensemble will include Musical Director Larry Dunlap and tenor man Noel Jewkes....

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Ella Fitzgerald set the gold standard for jazz singing and changed American music forever. Above all, she was an improviser of the first order, whose brilliant scat technique took melodic invention to new heights. To celebrate Ella’s legacy, Stanford Jazz presents two singers who have absorbed her influence and filtered it through their own unique sensibilities. Mary Stallings, whom the New York Times calls “perhaps the best jazz singer singing today,” spent time, like Ella, as a featured singer with Count Basie. Vocalist Kenny Washington is “an oversize talent who can scat with the harmonic daring and rhythmic command of a bebop saxophonist” (East Bay Express). The ensemble will include Musical Director Larry Dunlap and tenor man Noel Jewkes.

Please join us for "Inside Jazz: Ella: Simply the Best", a pre-show talk with Alisa Clancy. The talk will take place one hour before the show time and is included in the ticket price.

For more information on this event or to purchase tickets please visit http://www.stanfordjazz.org/jazzfestival/07_11.html or call (650) 725-ARTS [2787]

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