Ella+Fitzgerald

The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa

By: Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney



This book is a very interesting pictorial glimpse into the life of Ella Fitzgerald. I really enjoyed the way the story was told and the focus the book placed on Ella's scat career. It was an interesting book because the words were important and told the story with ease and vigor, however the images told the story as well as, if not better than the text. The book is a colorful, engaging tale of Ella's growth from Harlem to Carnegie Hall. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would use this book in my lesson in the introduction to scat. I would use it to explain what scat is and show how scat can be a powerful form of singing for it's listeners and performers alike. Ella Fitzgerald was after all the Queen of scat and I would focus on her, perhaps do a lesson in which students would research her, learn more about her and the way she viewed her art. This book would be a great tool in something like that.

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