iSound

In 1934, an awkward sixteen-year-old girl made her singing debut at the the Harlem Apollo Theatre amateur night in New York City. She intended to dance, but she lost her nerve when she got on stage. The man said, do something while youre out there, the singer later recalled. So I tried to sing Object of My Affection and Judy, and I won first prize. She drew the attention of the bandleader Chick Webb. After personally coaching the shy performer, Webb introduced her at the Savoy Theatre one evening as his orchestras singer *. That evening marked the beginning of Ella Jane Fitzgeralds singing career. One of the great compliments paid to Ella was from Ira Gershwin who said \\\'I didnt realise our songs were so good until Ella sang them. Ellas life was marked both by extreme highs and lows. Born in Newport News, Virginia in 1917 and orphaned at the age of 15, Ella was placed in the Colored Orphan Asylum in Riverdale, one of the few orphanages at the time that accepted Afro-American chi...