First listen to Ella Fitzgerald - Summertime (1968) |REACTION|

[@UnderhillKoufax]

Ella Fitzgerald was THE best singer of her era (1940s - 1960s) - male or female. She was the Queen of Jazz and an all-time great singer. Her duets with Louis Armstrong are legendary. I’m so glad you did a video on this musical giant.

[@sarastromseth-troy3323]

Possibly my favorite live performance video by anyone. Ella Fitzgerald was peerless. Perfect pitch, perfect control. Her voice sounds like another instrument.

[@frankofva8803]

Ella is perfection. Just like Sinatra her breathing and phrasing are brilliant. Thanks for this reaction.

[@Yosef1952]

She had extraordinary vocal control, perfect tone. But more than that, she had an emotional understanding of her material, of a kind that can't be taught. One of the giants.

[@chrisofmelbourne87]

I absolutely agree! Wow. She was so unique, and Ella decinitely had that understanding.

[@kylecompton3305]

She recorded 200+ albums and won 14 Grammys, so dig in! She is considered by most critics, as one of the GREATEST VOCALISTS of ALL TIME! I did not grow up in this era, but I would be lost without her catalog!

[@musicairplanes4884]

Reminder, no auto tune and performed live. Just Ella's voice.

[@edh7071]

The song is from "Porgy and Bess" - a "jazz/blues" opera written by George Gershwin (the composer of "Rhapsody in Blue") in the 1930s. The first all-black show to hit Broadway. It was essentially the opening number introducing the audience to the black ghetto in the heat of summer.

[@MigsDances]

Anne Brown was cast as a minor character named Bess in Gershwin’s opera titled Porgy. After hearing her sing “Summertime”, he expanded her role and, because of her, the opera was retitled Porgy AND BESS.

[@lesliesylvan]

Porgy and Bess." Among the finest stories/plays ever. A must see! Gershwin's most touching.

[@melenatorr]

@@lesliesylvan And here is the song in its original soprano register - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWiQgpRvZ7etmM0.

[@melenatorr]

It is, indeed, a lullaby, as you'll see from the video. It's the opening song to the show.

[@Jeff_Lichtman]

Ella Fitzgerald had a very long career, and she recorded so much music that it's hard to summarize. She did several "songbook" albums, each featuring the compositions of a particular songwriter. (or songwriters): George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Arlen, Rodgers and Hart, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, Jerome Kern, and Johnny Mercer. She started as a swing band singer, then became known as a straight jazz singer before she moved on to standards. You could listen to Ella Fitzgerald eight hours a day for several days without repeating anything. Ella was always perfect. I don't think I've ever heard her hit a bad note. She had a pure voice and really knew how to interpret a song. She was a great scat singer, and was just as much at home with be-bop as with Tin Pan Alley standards. In a comment on your Nina Simone - Feeling Good reaction suggested listening to Ella singing Flying Home and Too Darn Hot. Could you please consider these for future reactions? Thanks.

[@daveking9393]

Very well said. Thank you

[@oskarobit]

I was lucky to find at home a box with Ella`s vinyls in the 70 so my childhood had the best soundtrack. Later on 80-90s I discovered The Cole Porter's Songbook that discovered his world thru' her amazing voice and elegance. This one and the following Porter's second Songbook still being in my top ten. Ella IS THE VOICE of jazz, she is JUST THE VOICE.

[@gynack]

Glass 24 I saw Ella in the UK in the early 60's. I was in my late teens. I mind that I enjoyed the show, but since then I've listened to so much more of her. I appreciate her so much more now. Ach, what I'd give to be able to see her again with greater appreciation with maturity.

[@rockymountainjazzfan1822]

I remember a writer commenting that Ella Fitzgerald could sing the telephone book and make it sound great.

[@gregoryzauss5648]

The question was asked: "Who is the greatest female jazz singer?" Answer: "You mean besides Ella?"

[@anthonymussari8783]

Sarah Vaughan

[@MissAstorDancer]

@@anthonymussari8783 I love Ella, but REALLY love Sarah Vaughan! Just stunning!

[@gregoryzauss5648]

@@anthonymussari8783 She is fantastic, too!

[@gregoryzauss5648]

@@MissAstorDancer I agree!

[@jeffcowdrey1578]

Billie. The OG.

[@neilwhite7556]

I was in a bar in Chicago’s Stoney Island with my African American roommate in the 60s and Ella came in after doing a show and jammed with the band. It was an amazing experience. There is a lot to this story but Ella was the highlight. Rock on.

[@gynack]

Neil White It's great to hear of other people's experiences like that. I heard Ella in concert in the early 60's as a teenager. I was getting into jazz, etc. and enjoyed it. but I was too young and hadna listened to enough to fully appreciate her - and there's so much to appreciate. Oh, I wish so much that I could see her again singing. Still, I did see her live even though it wasna an experience to match your own.

[@neilwhite7556]

@@gynack Nice to hear about seeing Ella in concert. I was in my early 20s so few are contemporaries. Isn’t it great that we have lived long enough to know that these great talents can “live” on for our kids, grandkids and on. Rock on!

[@gynack]

@@neilwhite7556 You're right. It's great to have seen a number of all-time greats that stay as great memories. We're all lucky that so much has been captured on the likes of YT to live on so that we cab re-live these memories, and younger people can still discover them.

[@Lightmane]

Well now you've given me no choice, Daniel. I have to tell you a story about my dad. I'll try my best to keep this short. He grew up in Ann Arbor Michigan. One day as a kid he heard jazz on the radio. His dad told him to 'turn that racket off', but it was too late. He was hooked. As soon as he could, he left home and headed for Chicago, because he heard about the jazz scene on Lincoln avenue. This would be late 30's, early 40's. He played with his white friends, but he was the only white guy who went and played with the black musicians in Chicago. His friends got on his case. Why do you play with those n's? His response? Because they're geniuses. One day he got arrested (got into a fight). In lock-up, a black guy was staring at him. "How do I know you?", he asked. My dad said, "I don't know, do you play jazz?" The mans eyes lit up. Oh, you're "that guy". Yeah, I'm that guy, he said, smiling. My mom lost her tv show because she made a multi-racial promo pic, in the 1950's. We have the pic on our website at angel casey dot com, if anyone would like to see it. My mom was one of the pioneers of childrens television in Chicago, but sadly I never saw the show and I can't find it anywhere. Apparently it was done live. I figure there's got to be a recording of it somewhere, but I've never found one. I should probably go to the Chicago Historical Society and look around. My parents were breaking the color barriers long before almost anyone else did. They were kinda, just a little, ahead of their time, and I couldn't be more proud.

[@graciesmom1477]

Just went to your website. Your Mom was beautiful inside and out. I'd be proud too.

[@Lightmane]

@@graciesmom1477 thank you. Yeah, she was quite special. One of the happiest people I've ever known. It was a very rare thing when she got mad. There wasn't another woman on this planet who could've put up with my dads "moods". Without her, his life would've been hell.

[@bardaghohio]

Amazing story...you've got a lot to be proud about! Suggestion about your Mom's show...at that time, it may have been saved as a Kinescope, and my first step would be to hit Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications, and see if you can arrange a romp in their archives. If you know what channel the show aired on, they may also have a Kinescope or videotape...or, information about where you might find it.

[@Lightmane]

@@bardaghohio thanks. I saw it listed on the internet in a TV guide, so I should be able to find what channel. She was also on a show called Hail the Champ. Her kids show was called The Playhouse.

[@donpardo2510]

Lightmane, I would have been proud to know your parents.

[@davidschecter5247]

I've known a number of brilliant composers from the 1930s - 1950s, and Ella was THE voice to them. One of those one-of-a-kind singers.

[@PogueMahone1]

This woman's voice could literally shatter crystal glass. She demonstrated this ability in a famous early 80s commercial for 3Ms new Memorex cassette tapes.

[@ericoh123]

In the TV ad, Ella sang a scat line that shattered a wine glass. Both the "live" Ella and the "cassette recording" Ella were demonstrated to break the wine glass, and the advent of one of the mass-cultural iconic advertising lines of that era, "Is It Live - Or Is It Memorex?" Thanx for this point, Pogue.

[@neonpark1874]

@@ericoh123 Here's one of those commercials... kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2PTgZ2gecudnLM

[@adriennepender673]

Her purity of tone, her perfect pitch... crystal clear. She was someone who sang a song and let the song be the star, she didn't try to impress with "technique." But her own technique was so approachable. When you hear Ella, you think, "I can sing that, it's not too flashy." And then you try, and you realize, no... I can't. NO. ONE. ELSE. can do what she did. Ella was the Queen.

[@paulazavalafreire3935]

Mr Daniel, you are my hero: Ella Fitzgerald!!!! You take seriously the sugestions and you are not afraid to explore out the box. Bravo! Now you can compare the 2 covers: Ella and Janis. Powerful women!!!!! (You are too young to know, but the hankerchief is, probably, because a hot room and a woman in her menopause 🥵).

[@glass2467]

um, they're called brushes, and very common, but more so in jazz.

[@robertgardner7725]

Ella did several duets with Sinatra and with Louis Armstrong that are worth listening to. The drum "sticks" are called brushes. They give a much softer sound than the solid sticks.

[@timcardona9962]

Ella was the queen; One of the greatest jazz singers who ever lived! Check out the live version of "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" for some more amazing vocals. Also the scat solo on "Blue Skies" is one of the best ever performed

[@alanshepherd4304]

My absolute favourite female singer, bar none. Delve anywhere into her catalogue, you will not be disappointed!! 😁😁😷🇬🇧

[@harrietmiller3982]

I have loved Ella since I was your age. She is a National Treasure💯thank you for this✌️💕

[@TahariBlue]

The very best cover of Summertime, it is hauntingly BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

[@bh5606]

Could listen to her all day.

[@diogenesagogo]

My aunt's favourite singer. Takes me right back. Every Time We Say Goodbye was her favourite; even as a small child I knew she was the best. Thank you.

[@lindehughes1773]

I graduated High School in 1967. Her AT LAST is a phenomenal 🎵 song

[@juankasper4260]

Amazing. A Masterpiece. I love Ella forever.

[@tamagotchidoctor5207]

One of the most beautiful voices ever. Ella's version is traditional jazz/blues. Janis Joplin's version is late 1960's rock/blues. I think both versions great and highlight the depth of blues music.

[@92548dannyt]

This woman can sing like nobodies business.

[@gynack]

Dan T. An understatement, but I agree with what you mean. She was fabulous. I managed to see her in the 60's in London. I enjoyed it but I was too young to fully appreciate her then. Oh, how I wish I could see her performing live now. My appreciation of her has rocketed over the years during which I've listened to so much more.

[@jipster2020]

Ella Fitzgerald was known as "The Incomparable" for a reason. As others have mentioned, that era had some of the most iconic and beautiful singers. To me, Ella was and always will be my favourite, but Billie Holliday & Sarah Vaughan will still bring me to tears, even after 30 years of hearing the same songs.

[@rickseymour1972]

I grew up on this stuff and started playing piano at my local Jazz Club at 14. 35yrs later Ella is still one of the best vocalists ever born. I see you are.doing Nina Simon...Good luck and bless ya We need to keep.this music aljve

[@DaisyMae0929]

Ella Fitzgerald and George and Ira Gershwin were a match made in heaven. It is always her singing their songs that are the standard for anybody else doing their music.

[@rk41gator]

You have an amazing journey to take having found Ella. You won't be disappointed.

[@lisarainbow9703]

Another mind-blowing rendition of "Summertime" is done by legendary jazz pianist Gene Harris, who combines elements of classical, jazz, blues, and gospel in his version. I highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates amazing piano work.

[@rockymountainjazzfan1822]

Ask most any jazz fan who is the greatest jazz vocalist of all time, and you will get the same names--in different order--of the top three: Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Billie Holiday. Billie had great emotion and used her voice, despite having a limited range, to its best effect. Sarah Vaughan had fantastic range and took jazz singing to a whole new level. But, Ella. Ella could do it all--great emotion, fantastic range, superb improvising ability, could sing haunting ballads like this and immediately bring the house down with an absolutely swinging vocal on the next tune. She had all the tools in the toolbox. Despite fighting horrible diabetes in her later life--she eventually went legally blind and had leg amputations, she continued performing at her peak until just shortly before her death. Ella crossed every race, gender, and political barrier. She was just Ella, and everyone loved her.

[@Civilizashum]

Let me relate to you something about Ella as a person. Once upon a time I was a roadie for the local symphony orchestra, and Ella was there for a Pops concert. During a break in the dress rehearsal, I'm sitting over on the edge of the stage out of the way. She comes over and asks me how I'm doing, and what are my musical interests and am I a musician. Me, the low end of the totem pole and she takes the time.

[@Aurora-cv5to]

Such a delight to see you reacting to this music. You're saying/hearing it right. It goes so deep. Follow it. Ella was a giant.

[@roseannelobbezoo7638]

The song Summertime was written in 1934 by George Gershwin for his Broadway musical Porgy and Bess. It’s basically a lullaby. Summertime is the most covered song in the world, There are at least 25,000 versions. Ella Fitzgerald, called the “First Lady of Song” was the most popular female jazz singer in the US for more than half a century.

[@sarahjane8146]

Ella with Louis Armstrong, some of my favorite “jazz” music

[@charlesballi1535]

She recorded thousands of songs never ever a false note. An absolute genius!

[@andreamace3676]

I rarely do karaoke but when I do, I always do Ella's A Tisket a Tasket. Not that I can sing anything like her I just love the song. Ella is one of a kind.

[@robertknight2556]

Talk about the sweet bird of youth! I'm charmed by your innocence of one of the greatest singers ever and not knowing 'Summertime', from 'Porgy and Bess'. What a thrill awaits you at all the wonderful music out there before your time.

[@wilfbentley6738]

Two Ella songs that I thought of immediately are: R.E.S.P.E.C.T. AND You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman. She has a vast catalogue.

[@tommarks3726]

Those inflections. omg. This is a legend. soulful

[@rabrab3]

Best vocalist ever!! Check out her singing Cry me a River!! No disappointments!

[@losthor1zon]

The song is from George Gershwin's jazz opera, "Porgy and Bess". As I recall, this song opens the first act. It is a lullaby. In the productions I've seen, it's sung by a mother with her baby in her arms.

[@BTURNER1961]

Its from Porgy and Bess a Gershwin 'folk opera' written in the 1930's. This song has been sung by every jazz and blues singer on the planet. You name her, she's tried this. Nobody does anything close what Ella does with this. I have been begging vocal coaches etc to listen to this very rendition. Its just unparalleled.

[@KittenWAW]

You'd be doing yourself a big favor looking into more of Ella Fitzgerald's six decades of fabulous music. Suggested playlist to get a small sample of her scope: Smooth Sailing, Trouble In Mind, Cry Me A River (learn the story about this one), and Lullaby Of The Leaves. Four totally different moods, all perfectly mastered by this amazingly talented lady.

[@extdiso]

What a voice! One of a kind!!

[@2eleven48]

This lovely young guy trying to grasp just how much Ella is truly the best there ever was.

[@PanarchyInTheUK]

The tears are flowing. So much pain and longing for freedom...

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

Great reaction. I love jazz. Thanks for the great song.

[@EvieDelacourt]

The incomparable Ella 🥰

[@bcriswell]

Whoever requested this is my hero for the day.

[@paulaanderson2339]

Ella could shatter glass.

[@lawrencedizon-weisberg8073]

Oh, Grasshopper... "Summertime" is by George and Ira Gershwin from their opera, 'Porgy & Bess' - and yes, Ella was amazing! You can check out anything from her Songbook series or Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Amazing singer - one of my absolute favorites!

[@bananabob2185]

Do you hear how long she can hold a note?????? She's perfection.

[@mariannshake4396]

Ella Fitzgerald was considered the best jazz singer of all time. I'm talking about perfect technique & perfect delivery. She & Billy Holliday are completely different. Lady Day was passion & gritty. Ella, on the other hand, was flawless. She never sang a wrong note in her life. Scat was her secret weapon. She was better & smoother than anyone. Then there's that ability to slide from one note to another -- filling in every possible tone between the notes beautifully. Great singers know Ella & are in awe.

[@sr1285]

So good to see and hear this live version, Ella was my fathers favourite singer and he had several of her albums so my earliest years I had the pleasure of listening to a lot of Ella's songs, such a gorgeous voice!

[@georgewodicka4839]

You are branching out into everything music so eloquently. This is beautiful.

[@anthonymussari8783]

If you're going to listen to songs from "The Great American Songbook" then you have to listen to Sarah Vaughan.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

Sarah Vaughan yeah wow.

[@lisarainbow9703]

Sarah Vaughn singing "Send In the Clowns"...... ( goosebumps )

[@Incipit9]

Sarah Vaughn singing “Key Largo” 👍

[@ameliacharles2284]

@@lisarainbow9703Totally agree with you. A truly GREAT performance

[@dawnbrady152]

You have so much music to explore and the history good and bad. It's a wonderful pursuit.

[@michaelmaehle1433]

The song comes from the musical "Porgy and Bess" by George and Ira Gershwin. It's the opening number. A lullaby sung by a woman to her baby.

[@slownoman]

Ella Fitzgerald went to a talent contest at the Apollo to dance. This was 1938, I think. A chance would have it, a pair of sisters were the act ahead of her, and they were killer. So, Ella opted to sing instead. A scout for Chick Webb's band was in the audience, so she got an audition. Webb was a bit skeptical, since Ella didn't have the Lena Horne look. Then, he heard her. Hired. Destiny. IF there's been a better singer of the American songbook, I don't know who it is. My mom was in a big band trio from '39 to '45, and I was raised on this kind of music. Sarah Vaughn, Peggy Lee (a friend of the family). But Ella is the one.

[@rockymountainjazzfan1822]

My Dad worked his way through college in the Depression as a professional jazz musician. For a time, he was a band mate with Peggy Lee before she got famous--her real name was Norma Egstrom, by the way. My Dad always called her Norma, even after she got famous.

[@johnandrews3151]

Another female artist you would enjoy is Billie Holiday/Gloomy Sunday. This piece, released in the 1930's in the depths of the Great Depression, was banned from radio AirPlay because it was blamed for a rash of suicides across the United States at the time. It is considered an historic track. She was not afraid of singing about the injustices of the times and many of her songs were banned from the radio waves such as her song called Strange Fruit in the 1940's. Billie Holiday is the Real Deal.

[@stephensmith3111]

This song is from the opera Porgy and Bess (1935) by George Gershwin with the libretto by Ira Gershwin and DuBois Hayward (author of the source novel Porgy in 1925). Set in South Carolina, summertime is a brief hiatus for poor sharecropping farmers between the extremely labor intensive periods of planting and harvesting so, relatively speaking "the living is easy." The cotton crop has become established, but there is still much work to do. Boll weevils were a persistent threat that could devastate the cotton crop. It was a very hard life.

[@johnnybarstow8950]

Ella Fitzerald was called the queen of Jazz. Also called the first lady of Jazz.

[@jennifermorris6848]

I may have mentioned my Pandemic Playlist Project - Cross genre, cross generational organized alphabetically by artist. Except I have Ella Fitzgerald in all my lists as a collaborator with someone from each letter. She is amazing at all ages.

[@ericanderson8886]

Well, you just gotta do Summertime by Janis Joplin now. It is an experience.

[@xenialafleur]

A completely different style for sure. Both are filled with emotion, but Ella is so smooth and subdued while Janice is wild and energetic.

[@ericanderson8886]

@@xenialafleur yeah completely different tunes Ella so smooth and Janis so wild, wonder if Gershwin could imagine the versions of this song. lol

[@paulazavalafreire3935]

Agree!

[@daveking9393]

I like both for different reasons. Thanks for sharing. A FYI for all Watch "Karen Carpenter/Ella Fitzgerald medley, recorded for "Music,Music,Music" on KZbin kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnXTapVvmr6igq8

[@nathanweiss5174]

Could take a detour on the Coltrane on the way there..

[@joanbounacos8958]

A classic, smooth as silk!

[@TheRootedWord]

The drumsticks are called brushes and are usually used in Jazz.

[@claudiabetia5515]

It helps to understand the song when seeing it in context and watching Porgy and Bess as a whole. There are amazing renditions, but as part of the opera it is always more raw in feeling to me.

[@kennavilanova2643]

Miss Ella❤️🇧🇷

[@joonzville]

This song became a "standard" decades ago. It’s from the musical "Porgy and Bess". A *lot* of singers from jazz and blues have covered the song.

[@bardaghohio]

"Summertime" comes from the musical (American opera?) "Porgy and Bess," composed by George Gershwin, with his brother Ira doing the lyrics. As such, the song is part of a whole, and much of it is simply wishful or hopeful thinking. It's set in a poor, black community near Charleston, South Carolina, so, even in the summertime, the living isn't particularly easy, and Daddy is most certainly not rich. The entire original movie is available for free here on KZbin. My personal favorite version of the song is the duet Miss Ella did with Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong...Pops blowin' his horn, and both of them laying down some scat singing...sounded like they're having fun! It's also available on KZbin, as a matter of fact! Thanks for your reaction to this...if you love rock music, and are at all interested in its history, you need to also listen to Jazz, the Blues, and Gospel...they all contributed to the DNA of rock music...and Ella Fitzgerald could sing all three, magnificently!

[@WMalven]

This song is from the opera, Porgy and Bess., by the American composer George Gershwin. The story of tells the story of Porgy, a disabled black street beggar living in the slums of Charleston. It deals with his attempts to rescue Bess from the clutches of Crown, her violent and possessive lover, and Sportin' Life, her drug dealer.

[@psmolek7438]

One of the greats!

[@garyarnett1220]

Oh, and by the time Ella did this, it was already a well covered song. Written in the mid 30's by Gerschwin (sp) for Porgy and Bess , Billie Holliday did one of the earliest versions in the late 30's.

[@foxandscout]

When you are ready for jazz: Summertime by John Coltrane. Then: all you can listen to of Coltrane and Miles Davis. And something very special: album of collaboration with John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. You have to listen to the whole album: it’s magic. Hartman is like a black Sinatra. The sax and voice blend together so amazingly! In the 70s it was many college kids’ go to romantic album for those beginning intimacies....

[@SafferPOV]

FYI, Summertime is considered to be the most recorded song in history by the Guinness World Records: "The Summertime Connection declared: "At 1 June 2017, we know of at least 82,712 public performances [of "Summertime"], of which 67,591 have been recorded. Of these, we have 57,316 full recordings in our collection.""

[@Arv1160]

Listen to the recording from around 1958..with Ella F. and Louis Armstrong... It's fantastic...

[@joemercury100]

Thanks for the reaction to the queen of jazz. Asides from Ella, the song itself defines the great work of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. (But Gershwin wrote 100s of great songs, not to mention his symphonic works like Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, and my favorite - Concerto in F.)

[@lynette.]

A true legend.

[@sheilaswegler4859]

Another great choice, Daniel! and yeah, good call, the piano does get erie right there, you're right! I read some comments: I actually don't like the Janis Joplin version. To me it sounds too harsh for the song's sentiment. But I am sure that is a matter of the listener's taste. (and maybe what you grew up hearing for the song?) Since she was also mentioned: my brain thinks (not positive) that Fantasia Barino actually won American Idol with her version of Summertime, and I do remember that it was excellent.

[@christinerobinson548]

I think the lights she was standing under are very hot. True story about Marilyn. The odd "drumstick" is a brush, and come to think of it, I haven't seen anyone use it for years. It is a lullaby, the child is a baby.

[@AliceI7764]

This song actually is a lullaby from the play Porgy and Bess. This is the lullaby used to lull the Master's child to sleep. The plays setting is the deep south before the civil war.

[@sharonm6262]

Pretty sure "Porgy and Bess" is set post-Civil-war, more like early 20th cenury.

[@Live2swim]

After Fantasia was on American Idol (and the audience completely screwed up the voting that season, assuming the divas didn't need their votes), I bought Fantasia's first CD.. She sings Summertime very well. Fitzgerald sings it (most of the song) like a lullaby to a baby. Fantasia is singing it to an older child, that can take far more stimulation.

[@chewiebacka4377]

Summertime...planting is done, no harvest yet, too hot to do anything...sit back and relax because you can. That's the vibe I get.

[@rhiahlMT]

Ella is the LADY. Sultry, sexy, smooth, bluesy. This song has been covered for decades. You're trying to find a beat. This stuff you close your eyes, lean back and soak it up. This is a "Cat on the Hot Tin Roof" type southern drawl.

[@kevinjones9617]

Ella Fitzgerald’s (1917-1996) music catalogue is VAST. Many musicians would give a title to Ella; “The First Lady of Song”. While her musical roots are in Jazz, she could sing anything and make it iconic. Regarding “Summertime”: It is one song out of “Porgy and Bess”. Porgy and Bess is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin in 1935.

[@crazexskater]

Strange fruit by Billie Holiday... Haunting...

[@musicfan8253]

Agreed. Would love for you to react to that, especially since you’re such a “lyrics” guy.

[@EdwardGregoryNYC]

Absolutely.

[@gynack]

crazexskater I'm not a fan of Billie Holiday. I don't enjoy her voice - normally. However, I have to admit it really haunts me wheb she sings Strange Fruit. I don't often listen to it because it hits me so hard it's like painful to take in. Her singing that song is way up there about the top of songs that move me most - and I don't even normally like her!

[@musicfan8253]

Trevor Morris your comment is reason enough he should react to this!

[@kbretro64]

From Porgy and Bess 1935 on Broadway starring Todd Duncan and Anne Brown.

[@jald910]

The 1945 movie “Rhapsody in Blue” about George Gershwin has a segment about Porgy & Bess and shows a brief segment of the show with Anne Brown playing herself, singing a bit of summertime. You can find about 3 minutes of it on KZbin.

[@barblessable]

You can feel the southern summer heat and the black nanny singing to the white baby, or am I wrong ? Ella is the singers singer , so good she influenced so many musicians.

[@luispadreda3001]

You need to do Sarah Vaughan singing Summertime

[@dixiechatty958]

It was my great fotune to see her live in 1973. I have seen a lot of shows over the years and her show is in my top five. I also was fortunate to see Janis Joplin which was also in my top five. She also recorded Summertime. Since you often compare different versions of songs, this would be an interesting one. They are both incredibly soulful but Janis' voice is much more powerful. Check it out!

[@gynack]

dixie Chatty I don't see JJ's voice as particularly powerful. It's rough and raspy. she let's herself get carried away, but I don't know what carries her away. Listening to some version of her singing Summertime, and getting "carried away" by the emotion of the music, I could see no connect between how she was singing and the lyrics she was supposed to be putting across. I never heard of her or anything else that was happening at that time in popular music. I first heard her and if only a puckle of years ago, so the atmosphere, the "ambience", of the time has had no effect on how listen to her.

[@dixiechatty958]

@@gynack Two things. When the lyrics say "you're gonna spread your wings and take to the sky, lord the sky", she sings it more powerfully than Ella. Not better or worse. More powerfully. The second thing is if that doesn't work for you, isn't it great that there's so much to choose from that all can be happy?

[@gynack]

@@dixiechatty958 I'm not going to listen again to JJ for quite a long while. However, I agree that it's great that there is so much choice available to listen to. Poor JJ gave pleasure to a lot of people, even if not to me. Judging by what I saw of her in a couple of interviews, JJ seemed a nice person, and what became of her is very sad.

[@peggymiller2475]

Actually, the song is a lullaby. It's from the opera "Porgy and Bess" - music by George Gershwin and lyrics by DuBose Hayward who wrote the book the opera was based on. Good instinct!

[@r0kus]

I hear strong elements of melancholic irony in the lyrics. While the words claim "yourr daddy is rich", I see him as anything but. "And your mama is good looking" -- she may have been once, but years of all kinds of struggle have aged her and perhaps dulled what was once a beautiful smile.

[@johnandrews3151]

You should check out the video of Ella Fitzgerald and Karen Carpenter together. It is super!

[@sheilaswegler4859]

oh brushes on drums: I just was recently commentng about reading about another rock drummer using brushes on a rock song, and darn it, I forget who it was. [edit. I remembered. It was Densmore with The Doors! ] Pretty sure Van Halen sometimes did it, but that's not who I'm trying to think of. A guy named Marty Robbins sang songs with great narratives. (hope you hear them! oh, did we have narratives back in the day!) He was country, but his "El Paso" series of songs were interesting enough that they crossed over to the rock stations We had more more songs with that cross-over appeal, too, back then. (The narratives crossed over a lot, like Ode to Billy Joe.) Robbin's drummer used brushes. Being from El Paso, I paid more attention to his songs. The great Ginger Baker would use brushes at times. (Folks don't miss the Ginger Baker documentary on KZbin, when you have a chunk of time. He was a character to the end.) While I am thinking of it... one of my favorite drum solos is still John Bonham's (Bonzo) on CODA, recorded in Montreux. Blows me away each time I listen. Jimmy Page helped, I believe--> it sounds like there are some steel drums in there, too, but NO! It's so special, Daniel. Something for you to read about, despite there being no lyrics, no guitars..

[@MissAstorDancer]

Sheila, Marty Robbins' "El Paso" would be a fantastic reaction for Daniel, given his love of singer-songwriters, great musical storytellers and interesting lyrics! I absolutely LOVE Marty's music, I grew up with it! "El Paso" could truly be called an "epic" song, and an amazing story! The song has FOURTEEN verses, with nothing repeated in the entire song!

[@lisarainbow9703]

Please consider checking out some of the duet work of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong---- pure gold, pure magic..

[@glass2467]

I second that - since you're doing comparison videos, Janis' version is sublime. There are multiple great versions you can find from Janis. Ella is great too!

[@lesliesylvan]

Norman Rockwell Four Freedoms Painting: "Freedom from Fear." Parents putting children "safely" to sleep, while viewing WWII Newspaper headlines, "Bombing in Europe"