1 00:00:01,585 --> 00:00:04,379 [scatting] 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:08,926 --> 00:00:10,803 ♪ I'm going out ♪ 5 00:00:10,845 --> 00:00:12,805 ♪ I'm gonna rave and shout ♪ 6 00:00:12,847 --> 00:00:14,849 ♪ I wanna go out, I wanna go out ♪ 7 00:00:14,890 --> 00:00:17,184 ♪ We're gonna go way out ♪ 8 00:00:17,225 --> 00:00:23,524 ♪ Way out with the boys ♪ 9 00:00:23,565 --> 00:00:25,275 ♪ From Ipanema ♪ 10 00:00:27,486 --> 00:00:29,697 [scatting] 11 00:00:31,365 --> 00:00:32,825 ♪ Fly me to the moon ♪ 12 00:00:32,867 --> 00:00:35,160 ♪ And let me see What's way up there ♪ 13 00:00:35,202 --> 00:00:36,829 ♪ Take me to the moon ♪ 14 00:00:36,871 --> 00:00:39,080 ♪ I wanna go Way, way up there ♪ 15 00:00:39,122 --> 00:00:43,168 ♪ I wanna see What's up there ♪ 16 00:00:43,210 --> 00:00:46,672 ♪ Way, way, way, way, way Way up in the moon, yeah ♪ 17 00:00:46,714 --> 00:00:48,757 ♪ We're gonna do the moonwalk ♪ 18 00:00:48,799 --> 00:00:50,801 ♪ Got to do the moonwalk ♪ 19 00:00:50,843 --> 00:00:52,678 ♪ Got to do the moonwalk ♪ 20 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:54,638 ♪ Got to do the moonwalk ♪ 21 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:56,097 [music fades] 22 00:00:56,139 --> 00:00:57,975 [engine runs] 23 00:00:58,017 --> 00:01:00,143 ["If Dreams Come True" by Chick Webb plays] 24 00:01:01,436 --> 00:01:04,147 All the greats came here, everyone. 25 00:01:06,567 --> 00:01:08,276 ♪♪ 26 00:01:13,657 --> 00:01:15,784 And we went through these doors, 27 00:01:15,826 --> 00:01:20,288 and you were aware you were in Harlem! 28 00:01:20,330 --> 00:01:22,123 Harlem. 29 00:01:22,165 --> 00:01:24,793 [narrator] It was November of 1934 30 00:01:24,835 --> 00:01:28,380 when Norma Miller, who is 100 years old now, 31 00:01:28,422 --> 00:01:32,384 first heard a skinny teenage girl sing. 32 00:01:32,426 --> 00:01:36,471 A shabby street kid entered 'Amateur Night' at the Apollo. 33 00:01:41,643 --> 00:01:44,229 The girl has never sung in public. 34 00:01:45,940 --> 00:01:47,524 She's shaking. 35 00:01:48,442 --> 00:01:50,318 Her dress is dirty. 36 00:01:51,862 --> 00:01:53,655 The audience laughed at her. 37 00:01:53,697 --> 00:01:54,990 [laughter] 38 00:01:55,032 --> 00:01:57,034 They introduced this new girl 39 00:01:57,076 --> 00:01:59,536 called Ella Fitzgerald. 40 00:02:03,707 --> 00:02:05,375 We booed her! 41 00:02:05,417 --> 00:02:07,586 'Cause they were introducing somebody we didn't know. 42 00:02:07,628 --> 00:02:11,632 We were all kids, a bunch of rowdy teenagers in the balcony. 43 00:02:11,673 --> 00:02:14,384 Oh, we were mad anyway. "Boo"! 44 00:02:14,426 --> 00:02:17,220 Say, can you imagine, we booed Ella Fitzgerald? 45 00:02:22,101 --> 00:02:27,940 We went to the Apollo and I was the one that was chosen. 46 00:02:27,982 --> 00:02:30,985 My legs were so skinny, I used to wear boots 47 00:02:31,026 --> 00:02:35,322 so nobody could see the bottom of my legs. 48 00:02:38,575 --> 00:02:40,786 [narrator] She's just 16. 49 00:02:41,703 --> 00:02:45,540 Ella has survived the death of her beloved mother, 50 00:02:45,582 --> 00:02:47,751 a brutal reform school, 51 00:02:47,793 --> 00:02:50,796 and a homeless life in the Harlem streets. 52 00:02:52,297 --> 00:02:55,300 But she's tough. She likes a dare. 53 00:02:56,927 --> 00:02:58,720 And she wants to dance. 54 00:02:59,888 --> 00:03:03,224 At the Apollo, she takes her chances. 55 00:03:04,267 --> 00:03:06,269 [Ella] I was what they called 56 00:03:06,311 --> 00:03:09,857 you know, the greatest little dancer in Yonkers. 57 00:03:09,898 --> 00:03:13,443 And there were two sisters 58 00:03:13,485 --> 00:03:15,737 who were the dancing-est sisters in the world, 59 00:03:15,779 --> 00:03:17,364 called The Edwards Sisters. 60 00:03:17,405 --> 00:03:19,574 And they were starring at the Apollo. 61 00:03:19,616 --> 00:03:22,911 And when I saw those ladies dance, 62 00:03:22,953 --> 00:03:26,456 I said, "No way I'm going out there and try to dance, 63 00:03:26,498 --> 00:03:28,333 'cause they'd stop the show". 64 00:03:28,375 --> 00:03:31,252 -[audience laughs] -[Ella laughs] 65 00:03:31,294 --> 00:03:35,423 The man said, "You're out here", he says, "Well, do something". 66 00:03:35,465 --> 00:03:36,466 And I sang, 67 00:03:36,508 --> 00:03:38,010 ♪ If her voice can bring ♪ 68 00:03:38,052 --> 00:03:40,054 ♪ Every hope of the spring ♪ 69 00:03:40,095 --> 00:03:41,638 ♪ That's Judy ♪ 70 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:43,724 And everybody says, "Oh, that girl can sing". 71 00:03:43,765 --> 00:03:47,728 -[applause] -[man] Oh, that's funny. 72 00:03:47,769 --> 00:03:50,064 [Ray Brown, Jr.] It was like one of those defining moments 73 00:03:50,105 --> 00:03:55,777 where, "I'm here, I have to do something", 74 00:03:55,819 --> 00:03:59,531 something has to be accomplished. 75 00:03:59,573 --> 00:04:04,119 And to be able to pull out of you, out of yourself, 76 00:04:04,161 --> 00:04:09,499 something that's magical, 77 00:04:09,541 --> 00:04:14,880 you know, that's pretty amazing. 78 00:04:14,922 --> 00:04:17,674 And we heard a sound, 79 00:04:17,716 --> 00:04:21,011 I'm telling you, it was so perfect. 80 00:04:21,053 --> 00:04:22,596 I said, "She shut us up so quick, 81 00:04:22,637 --> 00:04:25,057 you can hear a rat piss on cotton". 82 00:04:25,099 --> 00:04:27,308 That was the story of Ella Fitzgerald. 83 00:04:27,350 --> 00:04:30,771 ♪ It was just ♪ 84 00:04:30,812 --> 00:04:34,858 ♪ One of those things ♪ 85 00:04:34,900 --> 00:04:41,031 ♪ Just one of those Crazy flings ♪ 86 00:04:41,073 --> 00:04:42,991 I was always looking for heroes. 87 00:04:43,033 --> 00:04:44,785 ♪ Bells that now and then ring ♪ 88 00:04:44,826 --> 00:04:46,494 [Mvula] Icons that looked like me. 89 00:04:46,536 --> 00:04:49,998 ♪ Just one of those things ♪ 90 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:55,295 A black woman that was really black. 91 00:04:55,336 --> 00:04:59,174 ♪ It was great fun But it was... ♪ 92 00:04:59,216 --> 00:05:01,927 [Mvula] She made it seem like anything is possible. 93 00:05:01,969 --> 00:05:04,012 ♪ ...those things ♪ 94 00:05:04,054 --> 00:05:06,431 There's no other Ella, sorry. 95 00:05:06,473 --> 00:05:10,144 ♪ One of those ♪ 96 00:05:10,185 --> 00:05:14,731 ♪ Things ♪ 97 00:05:14,773 --> 00:05:18,277 -[music ends] -[crowd applauds] 98 00:05:20,403 --> 00:05:23,824 ["Billie's Blues" by Billy Holiday plays] 99 00:05:34,459 --> 00:05:39,214 [narrator] Ella Fitzgerald's life was always about moving on. 100 00:05:39,256 --> 00:05:42,176 In 1919, when Ella was two, 101 00:05:42,217 --> 00:05:45,262 the family left Virginia for New York. 102 00:05:46,471 --> 00:05:49,390 They joined the Great Migration, 103 00:05:49,432 --> 00:05:53,394 tens of millions of African Americans who fled the racism 104 00:05:53,436 --> 00:05:55,605 and the poverty of the South. 105 00:06:00,194 --> 00:06:02,070 [Margo Jefferson] The Great Migration was bringing 106 00:06:02,112 --> 00:06:04,990 so many people, like Ella's mother, 107 00:06:05,032 --> 00:06:07,784 all with economic dreams, 108 00:06:07,826 --> 00:06:09,828 cultural dreams, social dreams. 109 00:06:09,870 --> 00:06:12,331 The world would have been opening up. 110 00:06:14,166 --> 00:06:16,126 [narrator] Ella's mother, 'Tempie', 111 00:06:16,168 --> 00:06:18,170 settled the family in Yonkers, 112 00:06:18,212 --> 00:06:20,797 a few miles north of Harlem. 113 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:22,257 [Newscaster] Heart of Harlem, 114 00:06:22,299 --> 00:06:24,343 the largest coloured city in the world, 115 00:06:24,383 --> 00:06:27,762 with a population of 220,000. 116 00:06:27,804 --> 00:06:32,100 [narrator] The action for black teenagers is in Harlem. 117 00:06:32,142 --> 00:06:34,311 From Yonkers, it's only a tram 118 00:06:34,353 --> 00:06:37,522 and a five-cent subway train to get there. 119 00:06:37,564 --> 00:06:39,440 [children clamouring] 120 00:06:39,482 --> 00:06:44,279 ♪ Hurry, hurry, hurry ♪ 121 00:06:44,321 --> 00:06:48,158 ♪ Get, get, get, get Get, get, get, get ♪ 122 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,703 ♪ Come on ♪ 123 00:06:51,745 --> 00:06:55,123 ♪ You must take the 'A' train ♪ 124 00:06:55,165 --> 00:06:58,126 ♪ If you really want to go To Harlem ♪ 125 00:06:58,168 --> 00:07:00,419 -[applause] -♪ Come on and take ♪ 126 00:07:00,461 --> 00:07:02,756 ♪ Take the 'A' train ♪ Thank you. 127 00:07:02,797 --> 00:07:06,260 ♪ Find the quickest way To get to Harlem ♪ 128 00:07:06,301 --> 00:07:10,222 ♪ Hurry, hurry, boy It's comin' ♪ 129 00:07:10,264 --> 00:07:13,100 ♪ Can't you hear those engines strumming? ♪ 130 00:07:13,141 --> 00:07:17,187 ♪ All aboard Get on the 'A' train ♪ 131 00:07:17,229 --> 00:07:20,941 ♪ You'll find the quickest way To get to Harlem ♪ 132 00:07:20,982 --> 00:07:22,609 [scatting] 133 00:07:22,650 --> 00:07:24,444 [Gregg Field] The earliest story I have, 134 00:07:24,485 --> 00:07:26,780 from her lips to my ears, 135 00:07:26,821 --> 00:07:28,115 she said she used to dance 136 00:07:28,156 --> 00:07:29,741 on the street corners in Harlem for nickels, 137 00:07:29,783 --> 00:07:33,245 she and her friend Charles. 138 00:07:33,287 --> 00:07:37,040 I wanted to be a dancer, and I ran away from home. 139 00:07:37,082 --> 00:07:38,833 But I got out there and I got hungry 140 00:07:38,875 --> 00:07:40,460 and I was glad to get back home, 141 00:07:40,501 --> 00:07:42,670 and I was glad when my mother whipped me. 142 00:07:42,712 --> 00:07:47,008 I was just so glad to know that I had a home to come to, 143 00:07:47,050 --> 00:07:50,637 a warm bed and, brother, that was it. 144 00:07:52,055 --> 00:07:54,057 [upbeat jazz music] 145 00:07:59,896 --> 00:08:02,399 [Will Friedwald] Ella Fitzgerald is coming into Harlem 146 00:08:02,441 --> 00:08:04,318 when it was the high point 147 00:08:04,359 --> 00:08:06,111 of what we now call the Black Renaissance, 148 00:08:06,153 --> 00:08:07,862 the Harlem Renaissance. 149 00:08:13,452 --> 00:08:14,786 There were all these theatres 150 00:08:14,828 --> 00:08:17,331 and there were fully staged revues. 151 00:08:17,372 --> 00:08:20,250 It was this very unique occurrence 152 00:08:20,292 --> 00:08:22,294 that never really happened anywhere else, 153 00:08:22,336 --> 00:08:23,920 or in any other time. 154 00:08:30,427 --> 00:08:33,847 It was just this incredible flowering 155 00:08:33,888 --> 00:08:38,143 of African-American musical talent that was concentrated 156 00:08:38,185 --> 00:08:42,063 in this very small specific area of just a few blocks. 157 00:08:46,567 --> 00:08:49,196 One of the lovely things about the Renaissance 158 00:08:49,237 --> 00:08:51,865 is this mixture of music. 159 00:08:51,906 --> 00:08:53,825 Okay, so of course you're hearing blues, 160 00:08:53,867 --> 00:08:56,036 of course you're hearing original jazz compositions. 161 00:08:56,077 --> 00:08:59,247 You're also hearing musical theatre, 162 00:08:59,289 --> 00:09:02,501 songs of the day, and those are all in the mix. 163 00:09:02,542 --> 00:09:05,170 ["Dinah" by Louis Armstrong plays] 164 00:09:07,255 --> 00:09:13,512 So Ella is taking it in and getting ready to join the swing age. 165 00:09:15,763 --> 00:09:17,474 [Friedwald] All the bands were on the radio. 166 00:09:17,516 --> 00:09:19,434 Duke Ellington made a point to be on the radio, 167 00:09:19,476 --> 00:09:21,853 and Louis Armstrong was all over the airwaves. 168 00:09:21,895 --> 00:09:24,398 ♪ Dinah With her Dixie eyes blazin' ♪ 169 00:09:24,439 --> 00:09:26,107 ♪ Love to sit and gaze in ♪ 170 00:09:26,149 --> 00:09:28,068 ♪ To the eyes of Dinah Lee ♪ 171 00:09:28,109 --> 00:09:29,528 ♪ Yet, every night ♪ 172 00:09:29,569 --> 00:09:31,571 ♪ My, how I shake with fright Oh ♪ 173 00:09:31,612 --> 00:09:32,947 ♪ 'Cause my Dinah might ♪ 174 00:09:32,989 --> 00:09:34,199 ♪ Change her mind ♪ 175 00:09:34,241 --> 00:09:36,617 [scatting] 176 00:09:36,659 --> 00:09:40,247 [Friedwald] Louis Armstrong is the only major scat singer 177 00:09:40,288 --> 00:09:42,416 before Ella Fitzgerald. 178 00:09:42,457 --> 00:09:44,918 He definitely was a big influence on Ella. 179 00:09:44,959 --> 00:09:48,463 ["Girl Crazy: I Got Rhythm" by Fred Rich plays] 180 00:09:53,176 --> 00:09:57,805 [narrator] The Broadway theatres are lit up with new musicals. 181 00:09:57,847 --> 00:10:00,434 Everyone listens to the songs on the radio, 182 00:10:00,475 --> 00:10:04,104 including a teenage Ella. 183 00:10:04,145 --> 00:10:09,067 Everybody calls it to this day the Great American Songbook, 184 00:10:09,109 --> 00:10:12,653 That's Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter, 185 00:10:12,695 --> 00:10:13,905 and all the great ones. 186 00:10:13,947 --> 00:10:19,578 ♪ They're writing songs of love ♪ 187 00:10:20,328 --> 00:10:23,790 ♪ But not for me ♪ 188 00:10:23,831 --> 00:10:26,918 [Bennett] All the greatest songs that everybody loves 189 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:28,044 to this day. 190 00:10:28,086 --> 00:10:34,593 ♪ A lucky star's above ♪ 191 00:10:34,634 --> 00:10:39,264 Ella is hearing the young composers 192 00:10:39,306 --> 00:10:43,435 whose music she'll be doing in song books years later. 193 00:10:43,477 --> 00:10:48,231 ♪ With love to lead the way 194 00:10:48,273 --> 00:10:50,191 [Jefferson] She's hearing Irving Berlin songs, 195 00:10:50,233 --> 00:10:51,610 she's hearing Rodgers and Hart, 196 00:10:51,651 --> 00:10:53,612 she's hearing the wonderful Harold Arlen. 197 00:10:53,653 --> 00:10:55,363 She's hearing all of that 198 00:10:55,405 --> 00:10:58,950 being sung by black singers as well as white. 199 00:10:58,992 --> 00:11:05,748 ♪ Than any Russian play ♪ 200 00:11:05,790 --> 00:11:11,838 ♪ Could guarantee ♪ 201 00:11:11,879 --> 00:11:13,590 [Friedwald] And people would think, "Oh, those little 202 00:11:13,632 --> 00:11:15,049 dumb little 'Tin Pan Alley', 203 00:11:15,091 --> 00:11:16,759 'Moon June Spoon' songs, 204 00:11:16,801 --> 00:11:20,013 but this became not only the soundtrack of the 20th Century, 205 00:11:20,054 --> 00:11:23,975 but helped to define it in a sense 206 00:11:24,017 --> 00:11:27,686 that it became the American equivalent of classical music. 207 00:11:27,728 --> 00:11:30,482 You know, where the Europeans have Bach and Beethoven, 208 00:11:30,524 --> 00:11:32,817 we have Jerome Kern and Cole Porter and Duke Ellington. 209 00:11:32,859 --> 00:11:38,532 ♪ I guess he's not ♪ 210 00:11:38,573 --> 00:11:41,826 ♪ For ♪ 211 00:11:41,868 --> 00:11:47,832 ♪ Me ♪ 212 00:11:47,874 --> 00:11:50,669 -[song ends] -[train screeches on rails] 213 00:11:50,709 --> 00:11:53,421 ["Harlem Shout" by Jimmie Lunceford plays] 214 00:11:56,174 --> 00:11:58,343 [Miller] I was raised with the jazz age, 215 00:11:58,385 --> 00:12:01,804 so all I ever heard was jazz. 216 00:12:01,846 --> 00:12:03,473 So, it was natural for me. 217 00:12:03,515 --> 00:12:06,601 Me and jazz came up together. 218 00:12:08,478 --> 00:12:10,980 [narrator] For kids like Ella and Norma, 219 00:12:11,022 --> 00:12:13,274 the jazz music and the dancing 220 00:12:13,316 --> 00:12:17,778 are an escape from lives shaped by poverty and racism. 221 00:12:20,114 --> 00:12:23,159 [Miller] Now my mother got two babies, 222 00:12:23,201 --> 00:12:27,372 20 years old, unskilled, never had a job. 223 00:12:28,747 --> 00:12:31,292 You had to find a way of getting money. 224 00:12:31,334 --> 00:12:33,127 You can't work for nobody, 'cause remember, 225 00:12:33,169 --> 00:12:35,714 slavery is over, you don't have jobs. 226 00:12:37,006 --> 00:12:38,841 How do you pay the rent? 227 00:12:45,515 --> 00:12:48,142 My mother used to give house rent parties. 228 00:12:50,270 --> 00:12:53,147 "Norma could dance". She threw me out on the stage 229 00:12:53,189 --> 00:12:54,857 so I can entertain her people 230 00:12:54,899 --> 00:12:57,569 so she can charge for pig feet and potato salad. 231 00:12:59,613 --> 00:13:01,448 And that's how I started in showbiz, 232 00:13:01,489 --> 00:13:03,366 in my mother's living room. 233 00:13:05,826 --> 00:13:07,870 Everything was race. 234 00:13:07,912 --> 00:13:10,998 You couldn't go to Woolworth across the street. 235 00:13:15,503 --> 00:13:17,922 If you were a black person and you wanted to buy a hat, 236 00:13:17,964 --> 00:13:20,550 you couldn't try it on. 237 00:13:20,592 --> 00:13:24,845 They wouldn't have black girls on the cash registers. 238 00:13:24,887 --> 00:13:27,848 You couldn't go out of your zone. 239 00:13:27,890 --> 00:13:30,893 Right up the street was the Cotton Club. 240 00:13:30,935 --> 00:13:32,853 We couldn't go in the Cotton Club. 241 00:13:32,895 --> 00:13:35,565 We could work at the Cotton Club, but you couldn't go in. 242 00:13:35,607 --> 00:13:37,734 So the confinement left you. 243 00:13:37,776 --> 00:13:40,236 What you had to do, you had to do it amongst yourselves. 244 00:13:44,616 --> 00:13:46,159 ♪♪ 245 00:13:50,497 --> 00:13:52,624 [narrator] Ella told a schoolfriend 246 00:13:52,666 --> 00:13:55,834 "One day, you're gonna see my name in lights". 247 00:13:57,962 --> 00:13:59,464 [music ends] 248 00:14:00,799 --> 00:14:02,342 [slow jazz music] 249 00:14:11,476 --> 00:14:15,229 In 1929, the stock market crashes. 250 00:14:15,980 --> 00:14:20,109 The Great Depression hammers the country for a decade. 251 00:14:20,151 --> 00:14:22,821 Millions are devastated. 252 00:14:22,862 --> 00:14:28,201 By 1932, half of black Americans are out of work. 253 00:14:28,242 --> 00:14:32,121 There are whites who insist black workers are fired, 254 00:14:32,163 --> 00:14:34,957 the whites given their jobs. 255 00:14:37,627 --> 00:14:41,881 For Ella Fitzgerald, there is also personal tragedy. 256 00:14:43,132 --> 00:14:45,009 The big divide in Ella's life 257 00:14:45,051 --> 00:14:47,470 was the tragedy of losing her mother 258 00:14:47,512 --> 00:14:50,097 when she was 13 years old. 259 00:14:50,139 --> 00:14:54,143 She describes her mother in very loving terms, 260 00:14:54,185 --> 00:14:57,313 and kept a picture of her mother in her home. 261 00:14:57,355 --> 00:15:01,693 Tempie was a formidable woman, and it was a devastating blow, 262 00:15:01,735 --> 00:15:05,112 because her mother had been the continuity in her life. 263 00:15:05,154 --> 00:15:07,699 And Ella was lost. 264 00:15:12,953 --> 00:15:16,123 [narrator] Friends said Ella's stepfather neglected her, 265 00:15:16,165 --> 00:15:19,335 and there were rumours of abuse. 266 00:15:19,377 --> 00:15:22,672 Her aunt in Harlem took her in. 267 00:15:22,714 --> 00:15:26,885 Ella, hurt, angry, lost, ran away. 268 00:15:28,969 --> 00:15:32,223 Cops picked her up off the street. 269 00:15:32,265 --> 00:15:34,934 She runs away from home, she's a truant. 270 00:15:34,975 --> 00:15:39,731 She gets caught and does time in a state reformatory for girls. 271 00:15:39,773 --> 00:15:41,982 This is brutal. 272 00:15:42,024 --> 00:15:46,863 It was the combination of reform school cruelties 273 00:15:46,905 --> 00:15:50,283 and the particular abuses and insults 274 00:15:50,324 --> 00:15:53,661 handed out to the young black girls. 275 00:15:57,498 --> 00:15:59,208 [narrator] The Training School for Girls 276 00:15:59,250 --> 00:16:01,252 had begun 30 years earlier 277 00:16:01,294 --> 00:16:04,380 as a home for unwed mothers. 278 00:16:04,422 --> 00:16:08,968 In Ella's time, it's a reformatory for young truants. 279 00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:16,559 Ella is locked up here in 1933, more than 100 miles from home. 280 00:16:19,270 --> 00:16:23,107 Like other black girls, she is beaten by male staff 281 00:16:23,149 --> 00:16:26,026 and held in solitary confinement. 282 00:16:28,780 --> 00:16:31,115 Ella never spoke about it. 283 00:16:32,659 --> 00:16:37,747 A report noted Ella Fitzgerald is "ungovernable" 284 00:16:37,789 --> 00:16:41,167 and "will not obey lawful commands". 285 00:16:44,671 --> 00:16:47,214 She is a "judged delinquent". 286 00:16:51,218 --> 00:16:56,975 Before long, she runs away, back to the streets of Harlem. 287 00:16:57,016 --> 00:17:02,229 She hits the street, sleeping in little nothings, 288 00:17:02,271 --> 00:17:05,817 you know, doing what we see any homeless person doing 289 00:17:05,859 --> 00:17:07,861 under little piles of refuse. 290 00:17:09,654 --> 00:17:13,407 And she wants to be a dancer, which I love. 291 00:17:13,449 --> 00:17:15,451 You know, "I will be a dancer, 292 00:17:15,493 --> 00:17:19,413 even though I'm this unglamorous little critter". 293 00:17:19,455 --> 00:17:22,082 ["One O'clock Jump" by Count Basie plays] 294 00:17:25,003 --> 00:17:28,422 [narrator] Ella is back in Harlem. 295 00:17:28,464 --> 00:17:31,676 It's the Apollo's first amateur night. 296 00:17:39,017 --> 00:17:40,852 She takes the gamble. 297 00:17:42,020 --> 00:17:45,690 This is her one shot. 298 00:17:45,732 --> 00:17:48,651 It changes the rest of her life. 299 00:17:48,693 --> 00:17:51,111 -[audience claps] -[music continues] 300 00:18:03,917 --> 00:18:05,752 [applause and music fade] 301 00:18:05,793 --> 00:18:10,048 [Tick] She used to say "I kept on", that is it. 302 00:18:10,089 --> 00:18:12,550 "I kept on". 303 00:18:12,592 --> 00:18:17,722 In the end, once she started, she never stopped. 304 00:18:17,764 --> 00:18:20,140 She lived, she survived, she became famous, 305 00:18:20,182 --> 00:18:21,935 so she kept on keeping on. 306 00:18:21,976 --> 00:18:26,814 At what inner price? We don't know. 307 00:18:26,856 --> 00:18:28,942 ["My Wild Irish Rose" by Chick Webb plays] 308 00:18:30,443 --> 00:18:32,612 [Newscaster] Chick Webb, king of the drums! 309 00:18:39,035 --> 00:18:40,703 [narrator] At the Savoy Ballroom, 310 00:18:40,745 --> 00:18:44,123 Chick Webb is Harlem's top bandleader. 311 00:18:47,668 --> 00:18:49,796 Swing is all the rage. 312 00:18:49,837 --> 00:18:54,550 Good time dance music, a break from hard lives. 313 00:18:54,592 --> 00:18:57,219 Chick Webb just had a beat that was like no other. 314 00:18:57,261 --> 00:18:59,263 [drum solo] 315 00:19:00,723 --> 00:19:03,142 He swung his arse off. 316 00:19:07,146 --> 00:19:13,277 Just an incredibly swinging musical drummer and bandleader. 317 00:19:13,319 --> 00:19:14,988 [Friedwald] He really knew how to lead a band 318 00:19:15,029 --> 00:19:17,406 with his personality and with his musicianship. 319 00:19:17,448 --> 00:19:18,908 But he was kind of faded 320 00:19:18,950 --> 00:19:21,452 just because of his physical handicap. 321 00:19:21,494 --> 00:19:24,371 He was, you know, a dwarf and he was a hunchback. 322 00:19:27,249 --> 00:19:29,460 [narrator] One of his musicians tells Chick 323 00:19:29,502 --> 00:19:32,922 he has to hear the girl who won at the Apollo. 324 00:19:32,964 --> 00:19:37,010 The guy says, "She's scuffling on the street". 325 00:19:37,051 --> 00:19:39,053 [Miller] Chick Webb didn't want no girl 326 00:19:39,095 --> 00:19:41,889 travelling with the band, 'cause you've got 16 guys. 327 00:19:41,931 --> 00:19:44,433 He said, "I'm not going to be taking no girl on the road, 16, 328 00:19:44,475 --> 00:19:47,645 and got a bunch of horny guys, I'm not going to have it". 329 00:19:47,687 --> 00:19:50,564 They had to fight to have Ella sing with the band. 330 00:19:53,901 --> 00:19:56,904 [narrator] "I don't want that ugly old thing", Webb says 331 00:19:56,946 --> 00:19:59,824 when he sees Ella wearing a shabby dress 332 00:19:59,866 --> 00:20:02,827 and workman's boots. 333 00:20:02,869 --> 00:20:06,288 You would think that a man with a tubercular spine 334 00:20:06,330 --> 00:20:08,166 might not be so careless 335 00:20:08,207 --> 00:20:11,961 with his put-downs of Ella's looks. 336 00:20:12,003 --> 00:20:15,589 But he gave her a huge start. 337 00:20:18,509 --> 00:20:22,680 There are some people who were born with God-given talent, 338 00:20:22,722 --> 00:20:26,600 and then there are the rest of us. 339 00:20:26,642 --> 00:20:29,436 My mother had God-given talent 340 00:20:29,478 --> 00:20:33,858 and obviously that was the little seed that was planted, 341 00:20:33,900 --> 00:20:38,529 and someone said, "Well, let's help this garden grow". 342 00:20:38,571 --> 00:20:43,743 And so that was Chick, who was a fabulous mentor. 343 00:20:43,784 --> 00:20:45,745 ["I'm Just A Jitterbug" by Fitzgerald & Chick Webb plays] 344 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:53,711 [narrator] Ella joins Chick Webb in early 1935. 345 00:20:53,753 --> 00:20:56,964 Singing with Chick's band gives her a future. 346 00:20:59,592 --> 00:21:01,802 She's on a roll. 347 00:21:01,844 --> 00:21:04,847 [Miller] She wanted to escape the life that she had, 348 00:21:04,889 --> 00:21:07,767 and the way she could escape it was in show business. 349 00:21:07,808 --> 00:21:09,309 ♪ I'm just a jitterbug ♪ 350 00:21:09,351 --> 00:21:10,686 A naive kid. 351 00:21:10,728 --> 00:21:13,064 ♪ A happy jitterbug ♪ 352 00:21:13,106 --> 00:21:17,235 She was not cultured, she was not haute couture at all. 353 00:21:17,276 --> 00:21:18,861 She was Ella. 354 00:21:18,903 --> 00:21:20,905 ♪ I'm not a corny hick ♪ 355 00:21:21,822 --> 00:21:24,200 [scatting] 356 00:21:24,242 --> 00:21:29,080 ♪ 'Cause I'm a jitterbug Might glad that I'm alive ♪ 357 00:21:29,122 --> 00:21:31,916 ♪ Give me a solid ascender ♪ 358 00:21:31,958 --> 00:21:34,334 ♪ Not just an elbow bender ♪ 359 00:21:34,376 --> 00:21:38,214 ♪ Don't want no old-time jazz No razzamatazz ♪ 360 00:21:38,256 --> 00:21:39,882 ♪ Just swing ♪ 361 00:21:39,924 --> 00:21:42,593 ♪ 'Cause I'm just a jitterbug ♪ 362 00:21:42,635 --> 00:21:45,179 ♪ A happy jitterbug ♪ 363 00:21:45,221 --> 00:21:47,848 ♪ A little jitter Jitter jitterbug ♪ 364 00:21:47,890 --> 00:21:51,644 ♪ Lookin' for a place to jive ♪ 365 00:21:51,685 --> 00:21:55,148 [narrator] The audience loves Ella. 366 00:21:55,189 --> 00:21:59,652 She plugs into their excitement and gives it back tenfold. 367 00:21:59,693 --> 00:22:02,196 ♪ The trumpet's goin' crazy ♪ 368 00:22:02,238 --> 00:22:06,617 Chick knew he had something very special with Ella. 369 00:22:06,659 --> 00:22:10,121 He took her on the road with the band. 370 00:22:10,163 --> 00:22:12,832 Norma Miller and half a dozen Lindy Hoppers 371 00:22:12,873 --> 00:22:15,209 were the opening act. 372 00:22:15,251 --> 00:22:16,836 See, we were the young generation. 373 00:22:16,877 --> 00:22:18,378 She impressed us. 374 00:22:18,420 --> 00:22:21,007 ♪ And now a-listen, folks And you will hear ♪ 375 00:22:21,048 --> 00:22:23,509 ♪ Of the drummer of the band ♪ 376 00:22:23,550 --> 00:22:25,928 ♪ Now, I know that He's the drummer ♪ 377 00:22:25,970 --> 00:22:28,889 ♪ By that drumstick in his hand ♪ 378 00:22:29,849 --> 00:22:31,391 [drum solo] 379 00:22:34,020 --> 00:22:37,898 [Miller] She was a girl of her time. 380 00:22:37,940 --> 00:22:41,652 It's something amazing about life: your time. 381 00:22:41,694 --> 00:22:44,822 She reached all of us. We were the kids coming up. 382 00:22:44,864 --> 00:22:48,993 ♪ Love and kisses never misses ♪ 383 00:22:49,035 --> 00:22:54,081 ♪ Making a heaven for two ♪ 384 00:22:54,123 --> 00:22:58,085 [narrator] Within six months, every band wants her. 385 00:22:58,127 --> 00:23:00,296 She's cutting records, 386 00:23:00,338 --> 00:23:03,883 singing on Benny Goodman's 'Coast to Coast' radio show, 387 00:23:03,924 --> 00:23:07,887 playing nightclubs and ballrooms from Boston to Philly, 388 00:23:07,928 --> 00:23:10,931 Chicago to New Orleans. 389 00:23:10,973 --> 00:23:13,475 [Patti Austin] Guys would finish a show, have a little drink 390 00:23:13,517 --> 00:23:16,854 and they'd bring a big spliff on the bus and they'd all get high. 391 00:23:16,896 --> 00:23:20,024 And Ella never wanted to get high, she didn't do drugs, 392 00:23:20,066 --> 00:23:23,027 and she would always go all the way to the back of the bus. 393 00:23:23,069 --> 00:23:25,863 She would take her coat and put it over her head 394 00:23:25,905 --> 00:23:28,657 and create her own personal filtration system. 395 00:23:28,699 --> 00:23:30,368 [laughs] 396 00:23:30,408 --> 00:23:32,578 So, that's the way she took care of herself. 397 00:23:32,619 --> 00:23:37,415 ♪ Mr Paganini, please play my rhapsody, and if... ♪ 398 00:23:37,457 --> 00:23:40,127 [narrator] Then, in October 1936, 399 00:23:40,169 --> 00:23:43,630 one of Ella's records became a hit. 400 00:23:43,672 --> 00:23:46,550 ♪ You simply have to swing it ♪ 401 00:23:46,592 --> 00:23:48,426 ♪ I said, "Swing it" ♪ 402 00:23:48,468 --> 00:23:50,263 ♪ Oh, swing it ♪ 403 00:23:50,304 --> 00:23:52,848 [narrator] She recorded "Mr. Paganini" with Chick Webb 404 00:23:52,890 --> 00:23:55,351 when she was 19. 405 00:23:55,393 --> 00:23:59,021 It stayed a favourite in her concerts for decades. 406 00:23:59,063 --> 00:24:01,481 ♪ With wild applause ♪ 407 00:24:01,523 --> 00:24:03,401 ♪ But what a great ovation ♪ 408 00:24:03,441 --> 00:24:06,070 [narrator] Chick Webb and his wife looked after Ella, 409 00:24:06,112 --> 00:24:08,406 [scatting] 410 00:24:08,446 --> 00:24:11,284 but she's making her own money. 411 00:24:11,325 --> 00:24:15,579 She has her own room, new clothes, even furs. 412 00:24:17,206 --> 00:24:21,377 A girl on the town, Ella has plenty of admirers, 413 00:24:21,419 --> 00:24:24,504 including one of President Roosevelt's sons. 414 00:24:35,141 --> 00:24:37,893 ["A-Tisket A-Tasket" by Ella Fitzgerald plays] 415 00:24:43,690 --> 00:24:45,859 I was trying to remember what was the first song 416 00:24:45,901 --> 00:24:49,322 I ever remember hearing by Ella Fitzgerald. 417 00:24:49,363 --> 00:24:52,325 ♪ A-tisket a-tasket 418 00:24:52,366 --> 00:24:55,535 ♪ A brown and yellow basket 419 00:24:55,577 --> 00:24:57,413 [Robinson] It was "A-Tisket A-Tasket". 420 00:24:57,455 --> 00:25:01,750 And my sisters used to play that all day long, every day. 421 00:25:01,792 --> 00:25:03,127 "A-Tisket A-Tasket". 422 00:25:03,169 --> 00:25:05,879 "A-Tisket A-Tasket" was her idea, 423 00:25:05,921 --> 00:25:08,466 and it became this blockbuster hit. 424 00:25:08,506 --> 00:25:12,094 ♪ Picked it up and put it in her pocket ♪ 425 00:25:12,136 --> 00:25:14,680 [narrator] "A-Tisket A-Tasket" went to number one 426 00:25:14,721 --> 00:25:16,807 on the American Hit Parade. 427 00:25:18,267 --> 00:25:20,894 It made Ella a national star, 428 00:25:20,936 --> 00:25:23,897 and it earned her a role in a Hollywood movie. 429 00:25:23,939 --> 00:25:27,026 ♪ She was truckin' on down The avenue ♪ 430 00:25:27,067 --> 00:25:29,445 ♪ With not a single thing to do ♪ 431 00:25:29,487 --> 00:25:32,865 ♪ She went a-peck, peck Pecking all around ♪ 432 00:25:32,906 --> 00:25:34,574 I listened to my voice then, 433 00:25:34,616 --> 00:25:39,372 and it sounds like, well, what I was, a little girl. 434 00:25:39,413 --> 00:25:41,790 ♪ A yellow basket and if she... ♪ 435 00:25:41,832 --> 00:25:46,670 [Ella] I laugh because my voice was so thin and small. 436 00:25:46,712 --> 00:25:49,756 But I guess it's like anything else, you mature 437 00:25:49,798 --> 00:25:54,345 and I'm grateful for those thin, small, childish voice, 438 00:25:54,387 --> 00:25:57,723 because without that, nothing could have happened. 439 00:25:57,764 --> 00:26:03,312 ♪ Oh, dear, I wish That little girl I could see ♪ 440 00:26:03,354 --> 00:26:05,272 She was no different from her singing. 441 00:26:05,314 --> 00:26:09,693 She was understated, she was shy, she was like a little girl. 442 00:26:09,735 --> 00:26:11,445 ♪ A-tisket a-tasket ♪ 443 00:26:11,487 --> 00:26:12,863 ♪ Love my little... ♪ 444 00:26:12,905 --> 00:26:15,782 ♪ My little yellow basket ♪ 445 00:26:15,824 --> 00:26:17,868 As Lena Horne famously said, 446 00:26:17,910 --> 00:26:21,080 "After that record, a whole generation of us girl singers 447 00:26:21,121 --> 00:26:23,541 went looking for that damn yellow basket". 448 00:26:23,581 --> 00:26:25,418 [applause] 449 00:26:25,459 --> 00:26:28,670 ["Chew, Chew, Chew (Your Bubble Gum)" by Ella Fitzgerald plays] 450 00:26:29,629 --> 00:26:31,340 Yeah! 451 00:26:31,382 --> 00:26:36,345 [narrator] Ella was voted America's number one vocalist. 452 00:26:36,387 --> 00:26:39,515 Just four years after he first met the teenager, 453 00:26:39,557 --> 00:26:42,726 Chick's fortunes were also skyrocketing. 454 00:26:45,438 --> 00:26:49,191 And Chick knew it was because of Ella. 455 00:26:49,233 --> 00:26:53,362 Together, they recorded a string of novelty numbers. 456 00:26:53,404 --> 00:26:54,821 [Newscaster] Ella really goes to town 457 00:26:54,863 --> 00:26:57,491 with "Chew Chew Your Bubble Gum". 458 00:26:59,076 --> 00:27:01,661 ♪ Chew, chew, chew, chew Your bubble gum ♪ 459 00:27:01,703 --> 00:27:04,415 ♪ Chew, chew, chew, chew Your bubble gum ♪ 460 00:27:04,457 --> 00:27:07,543 ♪ Chew, chew, chew, chew Your bubble gum ♪ 461 00:27:07,585 --> 00:27:10,003 ♪♪ 462 00:27:10,045 --> 00:27:12,423 [newscaster's voice fades] 463 00:27:12,465 --> 00:27:16,802 [narrator] But Chick Webb is struggling with health problems. 464 00:27:16,843 --> 00:27:19,637 He was a feisty individual. 465 00:27:19,679 --> 00:27:21,974 He was the meanest... 466 00:27:22,015 --> 00:27:24,684 See, we didn't understand, he was just always mean, 467 00:27:24,726 --> 00:27:26,979 but because he was always in pain. 468 00:27:27,854 --> 00:27:30,149 We just didn't know it. 469 00:27:30,190 --> 00:27:34,111 All those years, his playing, and the back... 470 00:27:34,153 --> 00:27:36,572 It must have been very painful. 471 00:27:36,614 --> 00:27:39,408 Sometimes they had to carry him off the bandstand, 472 00:27:39,450 --> 00:27:41,118 and we just didn't know that. 473 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,371 We said, "What the fuck's wrong with him?" you know. 474 00:27:44,413 --> 00:27:46,415 We didn't have sympathy for Chick 475 00:27:46,457 --> 00:27:49,251 until we saw him in the casket. 476 00:27:49,293 --> 00:27:52,171 [narrator] In the early summer of 1939, 477 00:27:52,212 --> 00:27:56,049 Chick Webb knows he can't hang on much longer, 478 00:27:56,091 --> 00:27:59,052 but he's still concerned about his young singer. 479 00:28:00,137 --> 00:28:02,055 He says to one of his guys, 480 00:28:02,097 --> 00:28:06,018 "Anything happens to me, take care of Ella". 481 00:28:06,059 --> 00:28:08,437 ["I Never Knew Heaven Could Speak" by Chick Webb plays] 482 00:28:10,063 --> 00:28:14,652 He died a few days later, aged just 30. 483 00:28:20,366 --> 00:28:22,576 Thousands of mourners lined the streets 484 00:28:22,618 --> 00:28:25,912 for Webb's funeral in Baltimore. 485 00:28:25,954 --> 00:28:28,624 Traffic was halted across the city. 486 00:28:30,668 --> 00:28:35,047 At the church, Chick's body was viewed by crowds of fans. 487 00:28:37,174 --> 00:28:40,093 Ella sings "My Buddy". 488 00:28:40,135 --> 00:28:42,596 ["My Buddy" by Ella Fitzgerald plays] 489 00:28:56,193 --> 00:28:58,278 [upbeat jazz music] 490 00:29:00,406 --> 00:29:03,742 [Newscaster] From the home of happy feet, 491 00:29:03,783 --> 00:29:05,118 the famous Savoy Ballroom, 492 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,454 Uptown Harlem along Lenox Avenue, 493 00:29:07,496 --> 00:29:11,041 it's music by Ella Fitzgerald And Her Famous Orchestra. 494 00:29:16,796 --> 00:29:19,925 When Chick Webb died, it was announced as her band. 495 00:29:19,966 --> 00:29:23,512 And I know she wasn't hiring and firing the musicians, 496 00:29:23,554 --> 00:29:25,931 but she was in charge, and she was the leader. 497 00:29:25,972 --> 00:29:29,017 She was the star. 498 00:29:29,059 --> 00:29:33,647 ♪ I've paid my tuition For my one ambition ♪ 499 00:29:33,689 --> 00:29:35,524 [Cullum] Probably deep within her 500 00:29:35,566 --> 00:29:39,819 was an immense amount of ambition and drive, 501 00:29:39,861 --> 00:29:44,283 which came out entirely in her undeniable singing. 502 00:29:44,324 --> 00:29:47,244 ♪ Shall dance with glee ♪ 503 00:29:47,827 --> 00:29:49,538 [scatting] 504 00:29:51,915 --> 00:29:53,584 [Cullum] She wasn't dazzling them 505 00:29:53,626 --> 00:29:55,753 with the dress she was wearing, or dancing. 506 00:29:55,794 --> 00:30:00,006 You know, she did it with her voice and her humour and her humanity. 507 00:30:00,048 --> 00:30:02,050 ♪ Oh, boy, I'm in the groove ♪ 508 00:30:02,092 --> 00:30:04,261 ♪ Oh, boy, I'm in the groove ♪ 509 00:30:04,303 --> 00:30:11,310 ♪ Oh, boy, I'm in the groove ♪ 510 00:30:11,351 --> 00:30:15,481 There was particular pressures there that any woman performer 511 00:30:15,522 --> 00:30:17,857 and, most particularly, for black women, 512 00:30:17,899 --> 00:30:22,780 the demands of glamour of sexuality. 513 00:30:22,821 --> 00:30:25,907 All of those were coursing through the culture, 514 00:30:25,949 --> 00:30:30,912 and Ella Fitzgerald did not fit any of those expectations. 515 00:30:30,954 --> 00:30:33,499 ["Crazy Rhythm" by Chick Webb plays] 516 00:30:35,793 --> 00:30:37,043 [narrator] From her late teens, 517 00:30:37,085 --> 00:30:39,588 Ella's weight made her miserable. 518 00:30:41,674 --> 00:30:46,011 Reporters called her the 'Plump Chanteuse'. 519 00:30:46,052 --> 00:30:48,388 They laughed when she was trapped in an elevator 520 00:30:48,430 --> 00:30:54,520 and wrote, "220 pounds of songstress hauled out by three men". 521 00:30:56,271 --> 00:30:58,023 [Jefferson] She was probably ashamed 522 00:30:58,064 --> 00:31:03,654 of some of those earlier humiliations and cruelties. 523 00:31:03,696 --> 00:31:09,242 She was made fun of for being not glamorous, for being hefty. 524 00:31:09,284 --> 00:31:12,705 And, coming from a rough life, 525 00:31:12,746 --> 00:31:18,293 could be turned against a performer by the press, 526 00:31:18,335 --> 00:31:19,878 particularly if you were a woman. 527 00:31:19,919 --> 00:31:21,880 ♪ Crazy rhythm Here's the doorway ♪ 528 00:31:21,921 --> 00:31:23,757 ♪ I'll go my way You go your way ♪ 529 00:31:23,799 --> 00:31:27,678 ♪ Crazy rhythm From now on, we're through ♪ 530 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:29,596 ♪ Here is where We have a showdown ♪ 531 00:31:29,638 --> 00:31:31,473 ♪ I'm too high-hat You're tow low-down ♪ 532 00:31:31,515 --> 00:31:34,434 ♪ Crazy rhythm It's goodbye to you ♪ 533 00:31:34,476 --> 00:31:37,229 ♪ I know that when a highbrow Meets a lowbrow ♪ 534 00:31:37,270 --> 00:31:39,105 ♪ Walking along Broadway ♪ 535 00:31:39,147 --> 00:31:40,982 ♪ Soon a highbrow He has no brow ♪ 536 00:31:41,024 --> 00:31:43,569 ♪ Ain't it a shame? And you're to blame ♪ 537 00:31:43,610 --> 00:31:49,867 She worked so hard when she was singing that she often sweated. 538 00:31:49,908 --> 00:31:54,454 She's drenched after, like, two songs, 539 00:31:54,496 --> 00:31:58,500 because it involves all of who she is. 540 00:31:58,542 --> 00:32:00,377 ♪ Crazy, crazy ♪ 541 00:32:00,419 --> 00:32:02,546 [Mvula] There's some real stuff, man. 542 00:32:02,588 --> 00:32:05,173 ♪ Crazy ♪ 543 00:32:05,215 --> 00:32:11,722 Seeing a woman that looks like my grandma and my aunty in one, 544 00:32:11,764 --> 00:32:13,640 that's, like, the coolest thing. 545 00:32:13,682 --> 00:32:17,895 ♪ Give me that rhy-thm ♪ 546 00:32:17,936 --> 00:32:21,481 [Mvula] And then she's this pioneer as a musician. 547 00:32:21,523 --> 00:32:24,317 ♪ Soon a highbrow he has no brow, ain't it a shame? ♪ 548 00:32:24,359 --> 00:32:27,320 She made it seem like anything is possible. 549 00:32:27,362 --> 00:32:28,988 ♪ Got rock, we got roll ♪ 550 00:32:29,030 --> 00:32:30,741 ♪ We want to try To satisfy your soul ♪ 551 00:32:30,783 --> 00:32:32,951 ♪ We'd like to try To do the kind of song ♪ 552 00:32:32,992 --> 00:32:34,745 ♪ You know, the kind That you like to hear ♪ 553 00:32:34,787 --> 00:32:36,622 ♪ Like old song, new song ♪ 554 00:32:36,663 --> 00:32:40,375 [Mvula] When you listen to Ella's voice and her music, 555 00:32:40,417 --> 00:32:42,461 there are no limits. 556 00:32:42,502 --> 00:32:46,005 She can go to places 557 00:32:46,047 --> 00:32:48,842 that we can't even imagine, 558 00:32:48,884 --> 00:32:52,805 which, to me, is what is part of the mystery of music making. 559 00:32:52,846 --> 00:32:54,807 [scatting] 560 00:32:58,226 --> 00:33:00,520 ♪ Crazy rhythm ♪ 561 00:33:00,562 --> 00:33:03,690 There she is, this stocky woman 562 00:33:03,732 --> 00:33:07,110 who looked like she could be a piano teacher 563 00:33:07,152 --> 00:33:10,363 or a librarian or a schoolteacher. 564 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,286 That's not what anyone expected 565 00:33:16,328 --> 00:33:22,250 of the girl who was fronting the Chick Webb Band. 566 00:33:22,292 --> 00:33:24,503 ["My Wubba Dolly" by Ella Fitzgerald plays] 567 00:33:26,755 --> 00:33:29,257 [narrator] Those years when Ella had her own band, 568 00:33:29,299 --> 00:33:31,927 some of the guys resented her as the leader. 569 00:33:35,096 --> 00:33:37,891 A few said she was tough, 570 00:33:37,933 --> 00:33:40,978 sometimes downright nasty. 571 00:33:41,019 --> 00:33:47,066 After all, a girl's role was to sing, shut up and sit down. 572 00:33:47,108 --> 00:33:49,903 ["Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by The Andrews Sisters plays] 573 00:33:57,577 --> 00:34:02,207 In December 1941, America entered World War II. 574 00:34:02,248 --> 00:34:05,544 ♪ He was a famous trumpet man From out Chicago way ♪ 575 00:34:05,585 --> 00:34:08,254 ♪ He had a boogie style That no one else could play ♪ 576 00:34:08,296 --> 00:34:11,090 [narrator] Many musicians were drafted. 577 00:34:11,132 --> 00:34:12,467 ♪ But then his number came up ♪ 578 00:34:12,509 --> 00:34:14,011 ♪ And he was gone with the draft ♪ 579 00:34:14,052 --> 00:34:15,261 ♪ He's in the army now ♪ 580 00:34:15,303 --> 00:34:17,014 ♪ A-blowin' reveille ♪ 581 00:34:17,055 --> 00:34:20,350 ♪ He's the boogie woogie bugle Boy of Company B ♪ 582 00:34:20,392 --> 00:34:22,227 [narrator] Within months, Ella Fitzgerald's 583 00:34:22,268 --> 00:34:23,937 Famous Orchestra disbanded. 584 00:34:26,815 --> 00:34:29,442 Ballads by a soulful young Sinatra 585 00:34:29,484 --> 00:34:31,987 and Glenn Miller's sentimental swing 586 00:34:32,029 --> 00:34:35,657 reflected the subdued mood of a country at war. 587 00:34:35,699 --> 00:34:37,325 [explosions boom] 588 00:34:40,746 --> 00:34:43,206 Ella slipped from the Hit Parade. 589 00:34:46,167 --> 00:34:52,049 Ebony magazine asked, "What is Ella Fitzgerald's style today?" 590 00:34:52,090 --> 00:34:54,843 ["Flying Home" by Ella Fitzgerald plays] 591 00:34:57,095 --> 00:34:58,764 [scatting] 592 00:35:10,525 --> 00:35:14,738 She gave her astonishing answer in 1944, 593 00:35:14,780 --> 00:35:18,241 when she embraced the bop revolution. 594 00:35:18,283 --> 00:35:20,285 [scatting] 595 00:35:32,505 --> 00:35:36,802 Fitzgerald's fascination with bebop started in the early '40s, 596 00:35:36,843 --> 00:35:39,596 but now she was ready to plunge in. 597 00:35:39,638 --> 00:35:41,640 [scatting] 598 00:35:48,063 --> 00:35:52,109 The heart of the new music is Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, 599 00:35:52,150 --> 00:35:54,987 where Ella sometimes bopped with the boys. 600 00:35:55,028 --> 00:35:57,322 [trumpet solo] 601 00:36:01,576 --> 00:36:03,036 [Cullum] She hung out with Dizzy Gillespie 602 00:36:03,078 --> 00:36:06,081 for two tours, and two tours later 603 00:36:06,123 --> 00:36:08,625 she was improvising like a bebop musician. 604 00:36:08,667 --> 00:36:10,502 [scatting] 605 00:36:15,841 --> 00:36:18,259 I can sum Ella up in one word... 606 00:36:20,345 --> 00:36:22,014 Wow. 607 00:36:23,056 --> 00:36:24,975 [scatting] 608 00:36:31,397 --> 00:36:35,276 Ella was doing something that hadn't been done before, 609 00:36:35,318 --> 00:36:37,070 and not to that level. 610 00:36:40,198 --> 00:36:43,785 She could solo using her voice 611 00:36:43,827 --> 00:36:46,746 to the same level, with the same ease 612 00:36:46,788 --> 00:36:50,500 that a trumpeter or a saxophonist could. 613 00:36:52,169 --> 00:36:55,088 [scatting] 614 00:36:55,130 --> 00:36:57,590 [giggles] 615 00:36:57,632 --> 00:37:01,845 And I thought, "How is this humanly possible?" 616 00:37:05,140 --> 00:37:07,392 [hums] 617 00:37:07,433 --> 00:37:11,188 It's a feat of nature, it's a freak of nature. 618 00:37:11,229 --> 00:37:13,899 ["Sweet Georgia Brown" by Charlie Parker plays] 619 00:37:19,988 --> 00:37:23,742 [narrator] Bop laid new territory for jazz. 620 00:37:23,783 --> 00:37:29,164 The heady cocktail of tearaway tempos and complex new harmonies 621 00:37:29,206 --> 00:37:32,542 blew away the conventions of swing music. 622 00:37:32,584 --> 00:37:34,711 [trumpet solo] 623 00:37:36,462 --> 00:37:40,175 [Jefferson] That speaks to her musical adventurousness 624 00:37:40,217 --> 00:37:44,554 and her performer's awareness 625 00:37:44,596 --> 00:37:50,810 that she had to locate herself on a new and exciting landscape. 626 00:37:56,315 --> 00:37:58,985 It had to feel powerful, 627 00:37:59,027 --> 00:38:01,113 moving from being a girl singer, 628 00:38:01,154 --> 00:38:04,950 you know, to being the woman singer as musician. 629 00:38:04,991 --> 00:38:07,077 [scatting] 630 00:38:16,711 --> 00:38:18,504 That had to be fantastic. 631 00:38:18,546 --> 00:38:20,882 [plays tune] 632 00:38:27,764 --> 00:38:29,348 [narrator] In 1989, 633 00:38:29,390 --> 00:38:33,103 40 years after Ella was hanging out at Minton's, 634 00:38:33,145 --> 00:38:36,773 Kenny Barron would play on her final album. 635 00:38:36,815 --> 00:38:39,943 It was called 'All That Jazz'. 636 00:38:46,950 --> 00:38:48,994 She had great ears, you know. 637 00:38:49,035 --> 00:38:51,955 'Cause sometimes it's not just about 638 00:38:51,997 --> 00:38:54,624 knowing harmony and theory, intellectually, 639 00:38:54,666 --> 00:38:56,876 but it's also about what you can hear. 640 00:38:56,918 --> 00:39:00,255 And great singers have great ears. 641 00:39:00,297 --> 00:39:04,467 Even if they're not learned, they have great ears. 642 00:39:04,509 --> 00:39:08,721 They can hear where you're going and where the music should go. 643 00:39:16,562 --> 00:39:21,567 The beboppers use a harmonic vocabulary that was not known 644 00:39:21,609 --> 00:39:24,445 before Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. 645 00:39:25,238 --> 00:39:28,033 [scatting] 646 00:39:28,074 --> 00:39:29,742 And things like "How High The Moon" 647 00:39:29,784 --> 00:39:32,078 were very much informed by the bebop movement. 648 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:34,080 [scatting] 649 00:39:39,460 --> 00:39:43,006 ♪ Somewhere there's heaven ♪ 650 00:39:43,048 --> 00:39:46,759 ♪ It's where you are ♪ 651 00:39:46,801 --> 00:39:50,471 [narrator] Ella Fitzgerald married bass player Ray Brown, 652 00:39:50,513 --> 00:39:52,849 one of the key figures in bebop. 653 00:39:55,894 --> 00:39:59,898 They had fallen in love on tour with Dizzy Gillespie. 654 00:39:59,939 --> 00:40:03,568 ♪ Until you will How still my heart ♪ 655 00:40:03,609 --> 00:40:06,363 ♪ How high the moon ♪ 656 00:40:06,404 --> 00:40:09,115 [Cullum] She came into this world with that voice. 657 00:40:09,157 --> 00:40:11,117 She could just sing. 658 00:40:11,159 --> 00:40:14,787 But although her sound and her abilities 659 00:40:14,829 --> 00:40:16,706 were set in stone from the beginning, 660 00:40:16,748 --> 00:40:18,958 she developed hugely as a singer. 661 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:20,377 ♪ How high the moon ♪ 662 00:40:20,418 --> 00:40:22,587 ♪ Does it touch the stars ♪ 663 00:40:22,628 --> 00:40:24,714 [Cullum] She kept up with the boys, there's no question, 664 00:40:24,756 --> 00:40:27,633 and most of the time she outplayed them. 665 00:40:27,675 --> 00:40:31,054 She was improvising bebop like a great bebop musician. 666 00:40:33,265 --> 00:40:35,100 [scatting] 667 00:40:38,353 --> 00:40:40,188 [Friedwald] Ella had this genius way 668 00:40:40,230 --> 00:40:42,774 of incorporating other kinds of songs 669 00:40:42,815 --> 00:40:46,194 into the main body of her scat singing. 670 00:40:46,236 --> 00:40:49,948 It's not just, 'scatty wah, dot, dot, dot'. 671 00:40:49,989 --> 00:40:52,325 Every note she sings is harmonically sound, 672 00:40:52,367 --> 00:40:55,161 it fits within a certain pre-ordinated chord structure. 673 00:40:55,203 --> 00:40:57,330 And when she does these quotes, 674 00:40:57,372 --> 00:40:59,416 they're also from the same chord structure. 675 00:40:59,457 --> 00:41:01,960 And that's the thing that's so genius, 676 00:41:02,001 --> 00:41:04,462 that she could be able to pull that stuff out of the air. 677 00:41:04,503 --> 00:41:07,048 [scatting] 678 00:41:10,676 --> 00:41:12,220 [Mvula] It's that part of singing 679 00:41:12,262 --> 00:41:18,143 that's just the most joyous place to sing from. 680 00:41:18,184 --> 00:41:23,648 You know, skipping through puddles 681 00:41:23,689 --> 00:41:28,820 that could be six feet deep and never sinking. 682 00:41:28,861 --> 00:41:30,905 It's like a rollercoaster ride. 683 00:41:30,947 --> 00:41:33,241 ♪ Though the words may be wrong to this song ♪ 684 00:41:33,283 --> 00:41:38,121 ♪ We hope to make high, high High, high ♪ 685 00:41:38,163 --> 00:41:39,914 [Cullum] It's one thing to sing, 686 00:41:39,956 --> 00:41:42,417 it's another thing to improvise singing or scatting, 687 00:41:42,459 --> 00:41:44,419 because you're using a musical language 688 00:41:44,461 --> 00:41:47,088 that is so different to straight singing. 689 00:41:47,130 --> 00:41:49,341 [scatting] 690 00:41:53,761 --> 00:41:57,890 [narrator] During a memorable concert in Berlin in 1960, 691 00:41:57,932 --> 00:42:02,603 Ella explodes with a five minute scat version 692 00:42:02,645 --> 00:42:04,856 of "How High The Moon". 693 00:42:04,897 --> 00:42:07,650 [scatting] 694 00:42:13,781 --> 00:42:15,783 These are the songs that she quotes: 695 00:42:15,825 --> 00:42:18,370 "Poinciana", "Deep Purple", 696 00:42:18,411 --> 00:42:22,790 "Love In Bloom", "Ornithology", "I Cover the Waterfront"... 697 00:42:22,832 --> 00:42:25,001 [scatting] 698 00:42:27,045 --> 00:42:31,007 "The Irish Washerwoman", "Hawaiian War Chant"... 699 00:42:31,049 --> 00:42:32,384 "The Peanut Vendor". 700 00:42:32,425 --> 00:42:34,260 [scatting] 701 00:42:39,265 --> 00:42:40,599 "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater", 702 00:42:40,641 --> 00:42:43,228 which is another swinging nursery rhyme. 703 00:42:43,269 --> 00:42:45,563 [scatting] 704 00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:51,236 [narrator] Quoting from more than 40 songs, 705 00:42:51,277 --> 00:42:53,321 nursery rhymes, symphonies, 706 00:42:53,363 --> 00:42:57,909 folk tunes, jigs, bop solos, show hits, 707 00:42:57,950 --> 00:43:00,828 a joyous torrent of invention. 708 00:43:04,665 --> 00:43:06,084 "Stormy Weather", 709 00:43:06,125 --> 00:43:08,461 "Yes We Have No Bananas", although in minor, 710 00:43:08,503 --> 00:43:09,879 usually played in major, 711 00:43:09,921 --> 00:43:11,630 a little bit of "Flight of the Bumblebee", 712 00:43:11,672 --> 00:43:13,883 another few notes of "Deep Purple". 713 00:43:13,925 --> 00:43:16,261 "Did You Ever See A Dream Walking". 714 00:43:18,555 --> 00:43:19,889 "Got To Be This Or That", 715 00:43:19,931 --> 00:43:23,059 which was a novelty song from about 1946. 716 00:43:23,101 --> 00:43:26,687 A few notes of the "Rhapsody in Blue". "Idaho". 717 00:43:29,899 --> 00:43:34,320 ♪ I guess these people wonder What I'm singing ♪ 718 00:43:34,362 --> 00:43:37,698 After that there's "A-Tisket A-Tasket". 719 00:43:37,740 --> 00:43:39,700 ♪ Dream walking Well, I did ♪ 720 00:43:39,742 --> 00:43:42,912 ♪ A-tisket a-tasket I lost my yellow basket ♪ 721 00:43:42,954 --> 00:43:47,041 ♪ Guess I'd better quit While I'm ahead ♪ 722 00:43:47,083 --> 00:43:50,044 And then she ends the scat with "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes". 723 00:43:50,086 --> 00:43:54,632 ♪ They ask me how I knew My true love was true ♪ 724 00:43:54,673 --> 00:43:56,509 She sings "as sweat gets in my eyes", 725 00:43:56,551 --> 00:43:58,844 because by that point she's really perspiring. 726 00:43:58,886 --> 00:44:02,181 ♪ Sweat gets in my eyes ♪ 727 00:44:02,223 --> 00:44:05,768 ♪ High, high, high, high, high ♪ 728 00:44:05,810 --> 00:44:12,108 ♪ Is the moon ♪ 729 00:44:15,487 --> 00:44:17,738 [Friedwald] Her mind just went from one song to another. 730 00:44:17,780 --> 00:44:20,617 What kind of a catalogue do you have in your head to do that? 731 00:44:20,658 --> 00:44:23,328 I can't even begin to think about that. 732 00:44:23,369 --> 00:44:24,996 And again, in the '70s, 733 00:44:25,037 --> 00:44:27,582 right here on this stage at Ronnie Scott's. 734 00:44:27,624 --> 00:44:33,588 ♪ No girl made has got a shade On sweet Georgia Brown ♪ 735 00:44:33,630 --> 00:44:35,256 ♪ Two left feet ♪ 736 00:44:35,298 --> 00:44:36,841 [Cullum] The way she plays 737 00:44:36,882 --> 00:44:39,093 with that ancient song, "Sweet Georgia Brown", 738 00:44:39,135 --> 00:44:40,845 it swings so hard. 739 00:44:40,886 --> 00:44:42,597 That's the other thing about her. 740 00:44:42,639 --> 00:44:47,644 Her sense of swing, it makes you do that swing face. 741 00:44:47,685 --> 00:44:51,063 It's like it almost hurts you it swings so hard. 742 00:44:51,105 --> 00:44:53,941 ♪ No gal, not a gal ♪ 743 00:44:53,983 --> 00:44:56,819 ♪ Got a shade on Georgia Brown ♪ 744 00:44:56,861 --> 00:44:59,696 ♪ Two feet, so neat ♪ 745 00:44:59,738 --> 00:45:02,741 ♪ Hey, that Georgia Brown ♪ 746 00:45:02,783 --> 00:45:05,453 ♪ They sigh, and want to cry ♪ 747 00:45:05,495 --> 00:45:08,080 ♪ For Georgia Brown ♪ 748 00:45:08,122 --> 00:45:10,791 ♪ Listen, while I tell ya ♪ 749 00:45:10,833 --> 00:45:12,544 ♪ You know, you know, you know, you know ♪ 750 00:45:12,585 --> 00:45:14,379 ♪ You know I don't lie ♪ 751 00:45:14,420 --> 00:45:15,963 [Cullum] You can't help but be reeled in 752 00:45:16,005 --> 00:45:18,966 by that level of joy and excellence. 753 00:45:19,008 --> 00:45:20,218 It's one of the reasons 754 00:45:20,259 --> 00:45:22,220 it's worth being on this planet, right? 755 00:45:22,261 --> 00:45:23,929 [chuckles] 756 00:45:23,971 --> 00:45:26,474 ["Miss Blandish" by John Scott plays] 757 00:45:30,645 --> 00:45:32,438 [narrator] From 1947, 758 00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:35,358 Herman Leonard began documenting jazz, 759 00:45:35,400 --> 00:45:37,527 and especially the rise of bebop. 760 00:45:39,487 --> 00:45:42,490 He photographed Ella, and their friendship 761 00:45:42,532 --> 00:45:45,742 produced some of her most lasting images. 762 00:45:54,085 --> 00:45:55,712 ♪♪ 763 00:46:08,015 --> 00:46:10,101 Ella adored children. 764 00:46:12,186 --> 00:46:16,107 She had always wanted kids, but she couldn't have her own. 765 00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:24,781 In 1949, Ray and Ella adopted her half-sister's infant son. 766 00:46:26,284 --> 00:46:28,827 They called him Ray Junior. 767 00:46:30,747 --> 00:46:32,373 I grew up in this business 768 00:46:32,415 --> 00:46:34,959 seeing people who had huge careers 769 00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:37,086 and they all had one thing in common, 770 00:46:37,128 --> 00:46:39,796 they all had very screwed up private lives 771 00:46:39,838 --> 00:46:43,760 because they all led that dual existence. 772 00:46:46,178 --> 00:46:48,347 [narrator] Ella and her husband struggled 773 00:46:48,389 --> 00:46:53,060 to reconcile a non-stop touring schedule with their marriage. 774 00:46:53,102 --> 00:46:56,105 I saw the collateral damage from women in the business 775 00:46:56,147 --> 00:46:58,983 who had said, "I'm going to have a career 776 00:46:59,024 --> 00:47:01,402 and I'll be back in a minute", to the kids, 777 00:47:01,444 --> 00:47:03,946 and "I'll be back in a couple of weeks", to the husband. 778 00:47:03,988 --> 00:47:05,364 And after a while, it's like, 779 00:47:05,406 --> 00:47:06,949 "Who's this woman coming into our house?" 780 00:47:08,576 --> 00:47:14,165 [narrator] By 1953, Ray and Ella were divorced, 781 00:47:14,206 --> 00:47:17,585 but they never stopped playing and touring together. 782 00:47:20,212 --> 00:47:21,880 [Cleo Laine] When I first met her, 783 00:47:21,922 --> 00:47:25,134 I think her marriage had broken up with Ray 784 00:47:25,176 --> 00:47:30,348 and she never seemed to have a strong love life in her life. 785 00:47:31,474 --> 00:47:33,017 It gives you strength, 786 00:47:33,058 --> 00:47:37,605 when you've got a bloke that will support you. 787 00:47:37,647 --> 00:47:41,693 You always need a bloke to support you. 788 00:47:41,734 --> 00:47:45,446 In 1941, when I started Jazz at the Philharmonic, 789 00:47:45,488 --> 00:47:48,658 I used many of the musicians from the Chick Webb Orchestra, 790 00:47:48,700 --> 00:47:52,161 that was then led by Ella Fitzgerald. 791 00:47:52,203 --> 00:47:54,038 To show you how bad my taste was, 792 00:47:54,079 --> 00:47:56,541 I used everyone in the orchestra but the singer. 793 00:47:56,582 --> 00:47:58,543 And so now I'd like to correct that 794 00:47:58,584 --> 00:48:01,587 and introduce the best singer there is in jazz today, 795 00:48:01,629 --> 00:48:02,797 the great Ella Fitzgerald. 796 00:48:02,839 --> 00:48:04,923 -[band plays] -[audience applauds] 797 00:48:05,758 --> 00:48:06,967 Thank you. 798 00:48:09,220 --> 00:48:10,429 Thank you. 799 00:48:13,641 --> 00:48:18,354 ♪ Love ♪ 800 00:48:18,396 --> 00:48:25,319 ♪ For sale ♪ 801 00:48:25,361 --> 00:48:31,283 ♪ Advertising young love ♪ 802 00:48:31,325 --> 00:48:37,039 ♪ For sale ♪ 803 00:48:37,081 --> 00:48:38,957 [narrator] Ella's life and her music 804 00:48:38,999 --> 00:48:42,294 took another new direction in the 1950s. 805 00:48:42,336 --> 00:48:47,216 It brought her international acclaim and enduring fame. 806 00:48:47,258 --> 00:48:49,635 Her new manager, Norman Granz, 807 00:48:49,677 --> 00:48:52,764 was determined to take her out of the little jazz clubs 808 00:48:52,805 --> 00:48:56,809 and on to the world's great concert stages. 809 00:48:56,851 --> 00:49:00,229 ♪ A foggy day ♪ 810 00:49:00,271 --> 00:49:03,775 ♪ In London town ♪ 811 00:49:03,816 --> 00:49:09,739 Had me low, had me down ♪ 812 00:49:09,781 --> 00:49:11,490 ♪ I viewed the morning ♪ 813 00:49:11,532 --> 00:49:13,576 [narrator] Granz matched Ella's voice 814 00:49:13,618 --> 00:49:16,662 with the music of the Great American Songbook. 815 00:49:16,704 --> 00:49:18,581 ♪ The weather is frightening ♪ 816 00:49:18,623 --> 00:49:24,545 ♪ The thunder and lightning Seem to be having their way ♪ 817 00:49:24,587 --> 00:49:27,799 ♪ But as far as I'm concerned ♪ 818 00:49:27,840 --> 00:49:29,966 ♪ It's a lovely day ♪ 819 00:49:30,008 --> 00:49:33,930 [narrator] The records are the heart of Granz' new Verve label, 820 00:49:33,970 --> 00:49:36,056 that he'd created for Ella. 821 00:49:36,098 --> 00:49:40,269 ♪ A fine romance ♪ 822 00:49:40,311 --> 00:49:43,397 ♪ With no kisses ♪ 823 00:49:43,439 --> 00:49:47,902 [narrator] An affluent post-war America can afford the new LPs 824 00:49:47,944 --> 00:49:50,028 and the hi-fis to play them on. 825 00:49:51,405 --> 00:49:52,698 [Field] Norman Granz had this idea 826 00:49:52,740 --> 00:49:55,576 to have her do these Songbook albums, 827 00:49:55,618 --> 00:50:00,247 which were sophisticated records with orchestras. 828 00:50:00,289 --> 00:50:03,584 It wasn't "A-Tisket A-Tasket" or "When I Get Low I Get High". 829 00:50:03,626 --> 00:50:05,210 It wasn't novelty tunes, 830 00:50:05,252 --> 00:50:08,046 it was her as a more mature woman, as a more mature artist, 831 00:50:08,088 --> 00:50:09,799 and now reinventing herself. 832 00:50:09,841 --> 00:50:12,301 So, Norman Granz is responsible for that. 833 00:50:12,343 --> 00:50:16,180 ♪ Every time ♪ 834 00:50:16,221 --> 00:50:20,434 ♪ We say goodbye ♪ 835 00:50:20,476 --> 00:50:24,480 ♪ I die a little ♪ 836 00:50:25,898 --> 00:50:27,316 [Ella] First I thought, I said, 837 00:50:27,358 --> 00:50:29,276 "My gosh, what is Norman doing? 838 00:50:29,318 --> 00:50:31,612 He's taking me away from my jazz 839 00:50:31,654 --> 00:50:34,782 and who wants to listen to me singing this?" 840 00:50:34,824 --> 00:50:40,663 ♪ Heaven, I'm in heaven ♪ 841 00:50:40,705 --> 00:50:47,545 ♪ And my heart beats So that I can hardly speak ♪ 842 00:50:47,586 --> 00:50:54,343 But it was funny, I just gained oh so many fans all over the world, 843 00:50:54,385 --> 00:50:56,804 so it was like a new beginning. 844 00:50:56,846 --> 00:50:58,848 ♪ Let's do it ♪ 845 00:50:59,891 --> 00:51:05,229 ♪ Let's fall in love ♪ 846 00:51:05,270 --> 00:51:08,566 [George Wein] Norman Granz took Ella out of the jazz clubs 847 00:51:08,607 --> 00:51:12,028 and put her in the world of the American Songbook. 848 00:51:12,068 --> 00:51:14,488 And he took her out of "A-Tisket A-Tasket" world 849 00:51:14,530 --> 00:51:16,490 into another world. 850 00:51:16,532 --> 00:51:22,246 ♪ There is nothing for me ♪ 851 00:51:22,287 --> 00:51:29,336 ♪ But to love you ♪ 852 00:51:29,378 --> 00:51:33,632 I liked Ella when she sang ballads, I must say, very much. 853 00:51:33,674 --> 00:51:36,218 I found them very touching, very moving, 854 00:51:36,260 --> 00:51:38,596 and I thought she knew what she was talking about. 855 00:51:38,637 --> 00:51:45,185 ♪ Just the way you look ♪ 856 00:51:45,227 --> 00:51:52,108 ♪ Tonight ♪ 857 00:51:52,150 --> 00:51:53,903 [Friedwald] Norman seized that moment, 858 00:51:53,945 --> 00:51:56,572 using not only the definitive songwriters, 859 00:51:56,614 --> 00:51:59,700 but Ella Fitzgerald, who he realised 860 00:51:59,742 --> 00:52:01,285 was the definitive interpreter 861 00:52:01,326 --> 00:52:04,622 of that music, and helped to establish her as that 862 00:52:04,663 --> 00:52:06,749 with these great Songbook packages. 863 00:52:06,791 --> 00:52:08,960 ♪ It's very fancy ♪ 864 00:52:09,001 --> 00:52:13,129 ♪ On old Delancey Street You know ♪ 865 00:52:13,171 --> 00:52:16,008 People did not take these songs seriously before Ella, 866 00:52:16,050 --> 00:52:18,510 they just thought that they were ephemeral. 867 00:52:18,552 --> 00:52:22,138 ♪ When Broadway breezes blow ♪ 868 00:52:22,180 --> 00:52:24,475 ♪ To and fro ♪ 869 00:52:24,516 --> 00:52:28,646 [Friedwald] But for Norman and Ella, to come along and preserve these songs 870 00:52:28,687 --> 00:52:31,774 and say, "This is what Americans should be proud of 871 00:52:31,816 --> 00:52:33,776 and this is the way to present them", 872 00:52:33,818 --> 00:52:35,444 was really a radical move. 873 00:52:35,486 --> 00:52:40,282 ♪ Gliding by ♪ 874 00:52:40,324 --> 00:52:42,827 To think that this girl that sang "A-Tisket A-Tasket", 875 00:52:42,868 --> 00:52:45,287 20 years after that, was making the definitive Songbook 876 00:52:45,329 --> 00:52:48,582 of George Gershwin, of Richard Rodgers, of Jerome Kern, 877 00:52:48,624 --> 00:52:51,251 and the one who would be taking jazz and the American Songbook 878 00:52:51,293 --> 00:52:56,007 to Berlin, to Helsinki, to Tokyo. 879 00:52:56,048 --> 00:52:59,093 You know, to think that she would go from that beginning 880 00:52:59,135 --> 00:53:01,470 to be the one who defined the Songbook, 881 00:53:01,512 --> 00:53:04,348 to me, is just miraculous. 882 00:53:04,389 --> 00:53:08,310 ♪ We'll go to Coney And eat baloney ♪ 883 00:53:08,352 --> 00:53:12,064 [narrator] Ella's Songbooks confirmed her as a superstar. 884 00:53:12,106 --> 00:53:15,818 ♪ In Central Park we'll stroll ♪ 885 00:53:15,860 --> 00:53:18,236 ♪ Where our first kiss we stole ♪ 886 00:53:18,278 --> 00:53:20,823 [narrator] But the reluctance of music promoters 887 00:53:20,865 --> 00:53:24,910 and TV and radio producers to book black artists 888 00:53:24,952 --> 00:53:29,331 remained a frustration for both Granz and Fitzgerald. 889 00:53:29,373 --> 00:53:33,794 ♪ We both may see it close ♪ 890 00:53:33,836 --> 00:53:37,422 ♪ Someday ♪ 891 00:53:37,464 --> 00:53:43,428 ♪ The city's clamour Can never spoil ♪ 892 00:53:43,470 --> 00:53:48,642 ♪ The dreams of a boy and goil ♪ 893 00:53:48,684 --> 00:53:50,769 I got that line right. 894 00:53:50,811 --> 00:53:53,064 ♪ We'll turn Manhattan ♪ 895 00:53:53,105 --> 00:53:58,986 ♪ Into an isle of joy ♪ 896 00:53:59,028 --> 00:54:01,697 -[song ends] -[applause and cheers] 897 00:54:05,993 --> 00:54:08,328 [narrator] Fancy nightclubs were also unwilling 898 00:54:08,370 --> 00:54:12,248 to offend white customers by booking black stars. 899 00:54:14,292 --> 00:54:16,294 [Friedwald] Norman Granz was trying to get her booked 900 00:54:16,336 --> 00:54:17,963 in these high class, 901 00:54:18,005 --> 00:54:22,342 very, very white upper-crusty Hollywood establishments. 902 00:54:22,384 --> 00:54:25,429 And at that point they were very hesitant 903 00:54:25,470 --> 00:54:27,305 to hire African Americans. 904 00:54:27,347 --> 00:54:30,726 ♪ You're just too marvellous ♪ 905 00:54:30,768 --> 00:54:34,438 ♪ Too marvellous for words ♪ 906 00:54:34,479 --> 00:54:37,149 [Austin] Marilyn Monroe loved Ella Fitzgerald, 907 00:54:37,191 --> 00:54:40,027 and said, "Whatever you need, however I can help you, 908 00:54:40,069 --> 00:54:41,570 I am going to do that". 909 00:54:41,612 --> 00:54:44,823 And she went to the owner at a club, 910 00:54:44,865 --> 00:54:48,202 she said, "If you don't open these doors to everybody, 911 00:54:48,244 --> 00:54:51,080 I'll make sure nobody shows up". 912 00:54:51,122 --> 00:54:52,873 And she came to the club every night, 913 00:54:52,915 --> 00:54:54,666 and half the reason people showed up 914 00:54:54,708 --> 00:54:57,293 was because Marilyn Monroe is sitting in the front row going, 915 00:54:57,335 --> 00:54:59,004 [whistles, then laughs] 916 00:54:59,046 --> 00:55:00,505 "Yo, Ella!" 917 00:55:00,547 --> 00:55:04,426 ♪ And so I'm borrowing ♪ 918 00:55:04,468 --> 00:55:07,721 ♪ A love song from the birds ♪ 919 00:55:07,763 --> 00:55:11,058 ♪ To tell you that You're marvellous ♪ 920 00:55:11,100 --> 00:55:17,439 ♪ Too marvelous for words ♪ 921 00:55:24,529 --> 00:55:26,282 [narrator] But in the South, 922 00:55:26,322 --> 00:55:31,536 Fitzgerald and Granz faced the harsh realities of racism. 923 00:55:31,578 --> 00:55:34,832 One night, there were three Houston detectives 924 00:55:34,873 --> 00:55:37,417 who said they wanted to be backstage, 925 00:55:37,459 --> 00:55:42,464 and ended up busting into Ella's dressing room. 926 00:55:44,675 --> 00:55:47,970 [Ella] Somebody was shooting dice and I got arrested. 927 00:55:48,012 --> 00:55:50,181 And they took me to the jail. 928 00:55:50,222 --> 00:55:52,683 And they took all of us to the jail, right. 929 00:55:54,392 --> 00:55:56,854 [Hershon] The detective pulled a gun on Norman 930 00:55:56,895 --> 00:55:59,273 and said, "I ought to shoot you". 931 00:56:01,608 --> 00:56:03,359 Norman said, "I'll cancel this show, 932 00:56:03,401 --> 00:56:05,070 and that's 2,000 people". 933 00:56:05,112 --> 00:56:07,948 "That's your problem, you deal with that". 934 00:56:09,825 --> 00:56:12,452 But he'd been pushing it from the very beginning 935 00:56:12,494 --> 00:56:16,040 when he came in the afternoon of the concert 936 00:56:16,081 --> 00:56:19,210 and personally took down the 'white' and 'coloured' signs 937 00:56:19,251 --> 00:56:20,794 from the doors. 938 00:56:22,420 --> 00:56:24,173 [Ella] It was so funny, they wouldn't want us 939 00:56:24,215 --> 00:56:26,717 to go in a restaurant or have something to eat. 940 00:56:26,758 --> 00:56:28,260 And yet, the moment I walked in to jail, 941 00:56:28,302 --> 00:56:30,386 they were all asking for my autograph. 942 00:56:32,139 --> 00:56:34,725 [Hershon] By the time they got down to the station, 943 00:56:34,766 --> 00:56:36,352 the press was there. 944 00:56:36,392 --> 00:56:40,147 He just knew that yes, this really was a set-up, 945 00:56:40,189 --> 00:56:46,028 and ended up suing the police department to get the bail back. 946 00:56:46,070 --> 00:56:50,448 If you messed with Norman Granz, you swallowed the hook whole. 947 00:56:50,490 --> 00:56:53,660 [crowd applauds] 948 00:56:53,702 --> 00:56:56,080 [narrator] Ella Fitzgerald joined Norman Granz 949 00:56:56,121 --> 00:56:59,624 and his musicians on long international tours 950 00:56:59,666 --> 00:57:03,545 under the banner Jazz at the Philharmonic. 951 00:57:03,587 --> 00:57:06,215 And now Miss Fitzgerald, Roy Eldridge, Oscar Peterson, 952 00:57:06,257 --> 00:57:08,800 the rest of the show combined to give you a jazz classic 953 00:57:08,842 --> 00:57:11,427 called "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing". 954 00:57:11,469 --> 00:57:14,265 [music begins] 955 00:57:14,306 --> 00:57:19,895 [narrator] JATP was celebrated for its uproarious jam sessions, 956 00:57:19,937 --> 00:57:23,941 sometimes dismissed by purists as a circus. 957 00:57:23,982 --> 00:57:25,984 ♪ It don't mean a thing ♪ 958 00:57:26,026 --> 00:57:29,113 ♪ If you ain't got that swing ♪ 959 00:57:29,154 --> 00:57:31,240 [scatting] 960 00:57:32,908 --> 00:57:34,826 ♪ It don't mean a thing ♪ 961 00:57:34,868 --> 00:57:37,121 [narrator] Ella was an essential presence, 962 00:57:37,162 --> 00:57:38,789 bringing her Songbook ballads 963 00:57:38,830 --> 00:57:41,666 -and up-tempo scat to the mix. -[crowd chatter] 964 00:57:41,708 --> 00:57:46,504 ♪ It makes no difference if it's sweet or hot ♪ 965 00:57:46,546 --> 00:57:48,215 [Ella] We travel, almost... 966 00:57:48,257 --> 00:57:52,636 Every day we're playing a different country or city. 967 00:57:54,012 --> 00:57:56,181 Sometimes we play two cities a day. 968 00:57:56,223 --> 00:57:58,392 [scatting] 969 00:58:02,146 --> 00:58:04,356 [narrator] Norman Granz was always obsessed 970 00:58:04,398 --> 00:58:05,649 with his jazz concerts 971 00:58:05,690 --> 00:58:08,777 as a way of fighting prejudice. 972 00:58:08,819 --> 00:58:14,074 He called JATP "a race blind democracy of talent". 973 00:58:14,116 --> 00:58:16,076 [scatting] 974 00:58:19,204 --> 00:58:23,792 As a character, Norman Granz was a righteous man. 975 00:58:23,834 --> 00:58:28,964 He really saw evils of segregation and was determined 976 00:58:29,006 --> 00:58:32,926 to campaign against segregation within jazz music. 977 00:58:32,968 --> 00:58:36,888 [scatting] 978 00:58:42,478 --> 00:58:45,314 [Friedwald] When Granz emerges and says, 979 00:58:45,356 --> 00:58:46,857 "I believe in equality, 980 00:58:46,898 --> 00:58:49,276 I believe that black musicians and white musicians 981 00:58:49,318 --> 00:58:50,902 should be equally presented. 982 00:58:50,944 --> 00:58:52,696 They should be able to stay in the same hotels, 983 00:58:52,737 --> 00:58:54,781 they should be able to share the same bandstand". 984 00:58:54,823 --> 00:58:56,450 It's not only radical in the period, 985 00:58:56,492 --> 00:58:58,202 but it certainly earned some of the respect 986 00:58:58,243 --> 00:59:01,246 of a lot of musicians, both black and white. 987 00:59:03,874 --> 00:59:07,961 Norman Granz produced the very first tour I did to Europe, 988 00:59:08,003 --> 00:59:10,255 I was with Dizzy at the time. 989 00:59:10,297 --> 00:59:12,508 But one of the things that Norman did there was, 990 00:59:12,549 --> 00:59:18,347 mid-way through the tour he gave all sidemen a $100 bill, 991 00:59:18,389 --> 00:59:20,682 which was a lot of money then. 992 00:59:20,724 --> 00:59:22,226 And he said, "Look, this is just 993 00:59:22,267 --> 00:59:25,396 for being on time and doing your job". 994 00:59:25,437 --> 00:59:26,646 Which I thought was great. 995 00:59:31,527 --> 00:59:33,445 [narrator] The relationship between Norman Granz 996 00:59:33,487 --> 00:59:36,740 and Ella Fitzgerald wasn't always easy. 997 00:59:36,781 --> 00:59:40,702 He was dictating many of her music choices, 998 00:59:40,744 --> 00:59:44,831 but his urge to control could be stifling. 999 00:59:44,873 --> 00:59:49,545 [Field] Norman, whenever he was around either Basie or Ella, 1000 00:59:49,586 --> 00:59:52,381 he would tell them, "You're gonna open with this, 1001 00:59:52,423 --> 00:59:54,466 you're gonna do this, you're gonna play this". 1002 00:59:54,508 --> 00:59:57,177 He was almost like Svengali. 1003 00:59:57,219 --> 00:59:58,803 [Wein] Norman could be nasty 1004 00:59:58,845 --> 01:00:03,725 and control was his total direction in life, 1005 01:00:03,767 --> 01:00:06,811 to control his world. 1006 01:00:06,853 --> 01:00:08,646 [Field] Frank Sinatra was talking to Ella , 1007 01:00:08,688 --> 01:00:11,066 and Norman Granz comes up and starts telling Frank 1008 01:00:11,108 --> 01:00:13,610 what he thinks Frank should open with, 1009 01:00:13,651 --> 01:00:16,447 and Frank had him thrown out of the theatre. 1010 01:00:16,488 --> 01:00:19,116 Norman was a proud guy, and at that point he said, 1011 01:00:19,157 --> 01:00:23,328 "OK, Ella Fitzgerald doesn't work with Frank Sinatra anymore". 1012 01:00:23,370 --> 01:00:27,958 [narrator] But always, Ella remained Ella. 1013 01:00:27,999 --> 01:00:32,129 [Hershon] Norman Granz was a voluminous collector of Picasso. 1014 01:00:32,170 --> 01:00:36,633 He also knew Picasso, hung with Picasso. 1015 01:00:36,674 --> 01:00:40,429 And he asked Ella if she would like to go and meet Picasso 1016 01:00:40,471 --> 01:00:44,516 and she said, "No, I'm darning socks this afternoon". 1017 01:00:44,558 --> 01:00:49,854 ♪ All you've gotta do is swing ♪ 1018 01:00:49,896 --> 01:00:51,982 [Brown Jr.] He did his job. 1019 01:00:52,023 --> 01:00:54,234 He had a goal in mind. 1020 01:00:54,276 --> 01:00:56,320 He was focused on that goal, 1021 01:00:56,361 --> 01:01:00,449 and they reached that goal together. 1022 01:01:00,491 --> 01:01:03,743 So, it was a good marriage in that way. 1023 01:01:10,792 --> 01:01:13,753 [Newscaster] One of the all-time greats of popular music 1024 01:01:13,795 --> 01:01:17,715 is a wonderful lady by the name of Ella Fitzgerald. 1025 01:01:17,757 --> 01:01:20,969 In between her tours, Ella Fitzgerald and her son 1026 01:01:21,011 --> 01:01:23,263 live in this house on a quiet street 1027 01:01:23,305 --> 01:01:25,599 in Los Angeles, California. 1028 01:01:25,641 --> 01:01:28,143 -Hello, Ella. -Hi, Charles. 1029 01:01:28,185 --> 01:01:30,604 [narrator] It was the 1950s. 1030 01:01:30,646 --> 01:01:32,606 Beverly Hills was not happy 1031 01:01:32,648 --> 01:01:35,192 about African Americans moving in. 1032 01:01:36,109 --> 01:01:38,111 Ella was a global star, 1033 01:01:38,153 --> 01:01:42,199 but Norman Granz had to buy her house in his name. 1034 01:01:42,240 --> 01:01:43,992 [Newscaster] I know how busy you are, 1035 01:01:44,034 --> 01:01:45,743 I'm glad we caught you between tours. 1036 01:01:45,785 --> 01:01:48,746 Thank you. Yes, you're right when you say between tours. 1037 01:01:48,788 --> 01:01:51,542 We just finished a 6-weeks tour in Europe 1038 01:01:51,583 --> 01:01:54,794 and we're about ready to go to South America for 6 weeks. 1039 01:01:54,836 --> 01:01:56,754 [Newscaster] With your schedule, it sounds to me 1040 01:01:56,796 --> 01:01:58,423 as though you don't get to spend much time 1041 01:01:58,465 --> 01:02:00,258 at home here in California. 1042 01:02:00,300 --> 01:02:04,012 I wish I could. Unfortunately I don't, Charles. 1043 01:02:04,054 --> 01:02:07,683 But I would love to, especially because of my son. 1044 01:02:09,142 --> 01:02:11,895 Here's my son, Raymond Brown Jr. 1045 01:02:11,936 --> 01:02:14,022 [Newscaster] Ray, are you planning a career in music 1046 01:02:14,064 --> 01:02:16,483 like your mother or haven't you decided yet? 1047 01:02:16,525 --> 01:02:20,862 Well, I like piano, but I think I'd rather be a baseball player. 1048 01:02:23,657 --> 01:02:25,659 [Brown Jr.] Musicians that my mother worked with 1049 01:02:25,701 --> 01:02:29,787 would let me play their horns or play drums. 1050 01:02:29,829 --> 01:02:32,832 Yeah, there are some really, really nice moments. 1051 01:02:32,874 --> 01:02:35,835 Roy Eldridge used to let me play his trumpet. 1052 01:02:37,588 --> 01:02:40,298 We went to Basie's house, 1053 01:02:40,340 --> 01:02:46,137 and he had this huge table with a train set on it, 1054 01:02:46,179 --> 01:02:47,931 and it was just spectacular. 1055 01:02:47,972 --> 01:02:49,849 [mimics train engine chugging] 1056 01:02:51,685 --> 01:02:54,854 Occasionally, my mum would call me out on stage 1057 01:02:54,896 --> 01:02:57,023 and we'd dance together on stage. 1058 01:02:58,650 --> 01:03:00,068 I loved my mum. 1059 01:03:03,947 --> 01:03:10,579 We had the usual turmoils that go on in family life. 1060 01:03:10,621 --> 01:03:13,957 I can remember having those moments 1061 01:03:13,998 --> 01:03:17,711 when I was very upset with my mother, and I ran up to my room. 1062 01:03:17,753 --> 01:03:20,756 And I had my little turntable, 1063 01:03:20,797 --> 01:03:25,552 and I would put on The Who's "My Generation". 1064 01:03:25,594 --> 01:03:27,971 I'd just crank it as loud as I could 1065 01:03:28,012 --> 01:03:30,307 'cause that's how I felt about it. 1066 01:03:30,348 --> 01:03:31,933 [grunts] Yeah. 1067 01:03:36,396 --> 01:03:38,732 There was a couple that she had hired, 1068 01:03:38,774 --> 01:03:41,610 Chester and Juanita Matlock, 1069 01:03:41,652 --> 01:03:45,238 and it was Chester's job 1070 01:03:45,280 --> 01:03:48,908 to keep me on the straight and narrow. 1071 01:03:50,243 --> 01:03:53,163 At some point, they told my mother 1072 01:03:53,204 --> 01:03:58,209 that I needed a little more discipline in my life. 1073 01:03:58,251 --> 01:04:01,838 And so they recommended a Catholic military school. 1074 01:04:09,680 --> 01:04:15,310 The joy of getting up every morning and going to Mass, 1075 01:04:15,352 --> 01:04:20,732 I got to fight every day with my fellow classmates. 1076 01:04:22,484 --> 01:04:25,696 Marching, fight time. 1077 01:04:28,114 --> 01:04:29,533 I tried out for the orchestra, 1078 01:04:29,574 --> 01:04:31,117 and they said, "What do you wanna play?" 1079 01:04:31,159 --> 01:04:32,661 I said, "I wanna play trumpet". 1080 01:04:32,703 --> 01:04:35,079 So the band master looked at me and he said, 1081 01:04:35,121 --> 01:04:38,291 "Well, you can't play trumpet, your lips are too big". 1082 01:04:40,752 --> 01:04:42,754 So they gave me a trombone. 1083 01:04:45,131 --> 01:04:49,594 Because you have such long periods of being apart, 1084 01:04:49,636 --> 01:04:54,307 and who knows how long it'll be before you see each other again, 1085 01:04:54,349 --> 01:05:00,897 there are times that's lonely and I think music really helps. 1086 01:05:00,938 --> 01:05:04,234 It's something that helps settle the heart. 1087 01:05:06,152 --> 01:05:11,157 ♪ I could cry salty tears ♪ 1088 01:05:12,450 --> 01:05:15,662 ♪ Where have I been ♪ 1089 01:05:15,704 --> 01:05:19,916 ♪ All these years? ♪ 1090 01:05:19,957 --> 01:05:22,919 ♪ Little wow ♪ 1091 01:05:22,960 --> 01:05:25,881 ♪ Tell me now ♪ 1092 01:05:25,922 --> 01:05:32,804 ♪ How long has this Been going on? ♪ 1093 01:05:32,846 --> 01:05:35,640 ["A House Is Not A Home" by Ella Fitzgerald plays] 1094 01:05:39,269 --> 01:05:42,773 [Ella] Now my son is at the age where I would really like 1095 01:05:42,814 --> 01:05:45,191 to spend a little more time at home. 1096 01:05:50,655 --> 01:05:53,491 And I am a woman, and you do get lonesome. 1097 01:05:53,533 --> 01:05:56,369 And I don't care how much singing you do, 1098 01:05:56,411 --> 01:05:59,330 and I don't care how much audience you have, 1099 01:05:59,372 --> 01:06:04,961 there are times when you go home, it's kinda lonesome 1100 01:06:05,002 --> 01:06:10,341 without that one person that you could tell those troubles to. 1101 01:06:13,762 --> 01:06:16,640 Someone that you just feel you can say something to them, 1102 01:06:16,681 --> 01:06:18,224 the little intimate things that you 1103 01:06:18,266 --> 01:06:21,185 wouldn't think of saying to anyone else. 1104 01:06:21,227 --> 01:06:22,646 I've got this big house, 1105 01:06:22,687 --> 01:06:25,315 but a house isn't a house without a man. 1106 01:06:25,356 --> 01:06:31,321 ♪ A chair is still a chair ♪ 1107 01:06:31,362 --> 01:06:35,116 ♪ Even when there's no one ♪ 1108 01:06:35,158 --> 01:06:39,788 ♪ Sitting there ♪ 1109 01:06:40,997 --> 01:06:43,249 [Ella] I love my work. 1110 01:06:43,291 --> 01:06:45,836 I guess that's one reason why I haven't gotten married again, 1111 01:06:45,877 --> 01:06:48,254 because I don't think I would ever want 1112 01:06:48,296 --> 01:06:51,257 to really just stop singing altogether. 1113 01:06:51,299 --> 01:06:56,137 It would have to be someone that realised I love what I'm doing. 1114 01:06:56,179 --> 01:07:01,100 ♪ And no one there you can kiss ♪ 1115 01:07:01,142 --> 01:07:04,813 ♪ Goodnight ♪ 1116 01:07:04,855 --> 01:07:08,232 I would have to maybe cut the jobs down and be a housewife, 1117 01:07:08,274 --> 01:07:10,694 because I think it can be done. 1118 01:07:10,735 --> 01:07:13,530 And if you don't have that experience, 1119 01:07:13,571 --> 01:07:15,239 life just doesn't mean anything. 1120 01:07:15,281 --> 01:07:17,617 A woman's got to have that kind of experience. 1121 01:07:17,659 --> 01:07:23,247 I miss it now more and more, and as I see my son grow up, 1122 01:07:23,289 --> 01:07:27,084 I realise that I want to spend more time at home. 1123 01:07:27,126 --> 01:07:30,630 ♪ And a house is not a home ♪ 1124 01:07:30,672 --> 01:07:37,345 ♪ When the two of us Are far apart ♪ 1125 01:07:37,387 --> 01:07:39,848 ♪ And one of us ♪ 1126 01:07:39,890 --> 01:07:46,187 ♪ Has a broken heart ♪ 1127 01:07:48,773 --> 01:07:50,817 I just love to sing, 1128 01:07:50,859 --> 01:07:54,696 I don't know, I just feel that if I couldn't sing, 1129 01:07:54,738 --> 01:07:56,489 I don't know what I would do. 1130 01:07:56,531 --> 01:07:59,993 ♪ And suddenly your face appears ♪ 1131 01:08:00,035 --> 01:08:02,286 As soon as I have had that first week off, 1132 01:08:02,328 --> 01:08:04,581 I'm ready to hit the road again. It's like well, gee, 1133 01:08:04,622 --> 01:08:06,207 that's part of my family. 1134 01:08:06,249 --> 01:08:08,459 I've got to get out to see how my family's doing. 1135 01:08:08,501 --> 01:08:12,255 ♪ It's so nice to have a man ♪ 1136 01:08:12,296 --> 01:08:15,508 ♪ Moon round the house ♪ 1137 01:08:17,010 --> 01:08:20,055 ♪ It's so nice ♪ 1138 01:08:20,096 --> 01:08:25,268 ♪ To have a man Around the house ♪ 1139 01:08:25,309 --> 01:08:29,439 ♪ I'm not meant to live alone ♪ 1140 01:08:29,480 --> 01:08:34,193 ♪ Turn this house into a home ♪ 1141 01:08:34,235 --> 01:08:37,447 ♪ When I climb the stairs ♪ 1142 01:08:37,488 --> 01:08:40,450 ♪ And turn the key ♪ 1143 01:08:40,491 --> 01:08:45,914 ♪ Oh, please be there ♪ 1144 01:08:45,956 --> 01:08:52,587 ♪ Still in love with ♪ 1145 01:08:52,629 --> 01:08:58,676 ♪ Me ♪ 1146 01:09:02,013 --> 01:09:08,019 ♪ A house is not a home ♪ 1147 01:09:08,061 --> 01:09:14,859 ♪ A home is not a house ♪ 1148 01:09:14,901 --> 01:09:20,197 ♪ A house is not a home And a home is not a house ♪ 1149 01:09:20,239 --> 01:09:26,579 ♪ Without a man ♪ 1150 01:09:30,166 --> 01:09:36,047 ♪ Without a man ♪ 1151 01:09:36,089 --> 01:09:38,299 [crowd applauds] 1152 01:09:39,050 --> 01:09:40,885 [Ella] Thank you. 1153 01:09:40,927 --> 01:09:43,638 We'd like to do something for you now. 1154 01:09:43,680 --> 01:09:47,433 We haven't heard a girl sing it, and since it's so popular, 1155 01:09:47,475 --> 01:09:49,686 we'd like to try it and do it for you. 1156 01:09:51,021 --> 01:09:53,148 We hope we remember all the words. 1157 01:09:56,109 --> 01:09:58,653 [Wein] Well, Ella was a road rat. 1158 01:09:58,695 --> 01:10:01,280 You know, if she wasn't working what was she was doing? 1159 01:10:01,322 --> 01:10:02,699 She was sitting home alone. 1160 01:10:02,740 --> 01:10:05,952 I don't think Ella could ever stay home, 1161 01:10:05,994 --> 01:10:08,830 and do the cooking for a man. 1162 01:10:08,872 --> 01:10:11,582 I think she would prefer to sing for a man. 1163 01:10:13,459 --> 01:10:16,129 [Wein] She was always in a rush to go somewhere. 1164 01:10:17,130 --> 01:10:18,882 That's when she was happiest: 1165 01:10:18,923 --> 01:10:23,970 in front of people screaming out, "We love you Ella". 1166 01:10:24,012 --> 01:10:26,723 I think that meant everything to her. 1167 01:10:26,764 --> 01:10:30,018 ♪ Oh, the shark has ♪ 1168 01:10:30,060 --> 01:10:33,270 ♪ Pearly teeth, dear ♪ 1169 01:10:33,312 --> 01:10:40,195 ♪ And he shows them Pearly white ♪ 1170 01:10:40,236 --> 01:10:43,073 [narrator] For decades, from the late 1950s, 1171 01:10:43,114 --> 01:10:46,951 Ella embarked on an endless series of concert tours, 1172 01:10:46,993 --> 01:10:50,121 performing in dozens of countries around the world, 1173 01:10:50,163 --> 01:10:53,332 from Germany to Brazil and Japan. 1174 01:10:53,374 --> 01:10:57,003 ♪ Oh, the shark bites ♪ 1175 01:10:57,045 --> 01:11:00,840 ♪ With its teeth, dear ♪ 1176 01:11:00,882 --> 01:11:04,177 [Friedwald] One concert was in Berlin in 1960, 1177 01:11:04,219 --> 01:11:06,888 and it was a year before the Wall went up, 1178 01:11:06,930 --> 01:11:10,600 and this was as far at the boundaries of the Soviet Union 1179 01:11:10,641 --> 01:11:13,853 as a major American artist had come. 1180 01:11:13,895 --> 01:11:18,691 ♪ So there's not Not a trace of red ♪ 1181 01:11:18,733 --> 01:11:20,651 [narrator] Norman Granz suggested 1182 01:11:20,693 --> 01:11:25,031 Ella should try a recent Bobby Darin hit, "Mack the Knife". 1183 01:11:25,073 --> 01:11:28,576 ♪ Round the corner Tell me, could it be ♪ 1184 01:11:28,618 --> 01:11:30,703 [Hershon] She said she was going to do it, 1185 01:11:30,745 --> 01:11:34,040 but she wasn't sure she remembered all the lyrics. 1186 01:11:34,082 --> 01:11:37,961 ♪ Oh, what's the next chorus ♪ 1187 01:11:38,002 --> 01:11:41,214 ♪ To this song now? ♪ 1188 01:11:41,256 --> 01:11:47,678 ♪ This is the one now I don't know ♪ 1189 01:11:47,720 --> 01:11:51,599 ♪ But it was the swinging tune ♪ 1190 01:11:51,641 --> 01:11:54,560 ♪ And it's a hit tune ♪ 1191 01:11:54,602 --> 01:12:01,651 ♪ So we tried to do "Mack The Knife" ♪ 1192 01:12:01,692 --> 01:12:05,446 ♪ Ah, Louis Miller ♪ 1193 01:12:05,488 --> 01:12:09,408 ♪ Oh, somethin' 'bout cash ♪ 1194 01:12:09,450 --> 01:12:11,828 ♪ Yeah, Miller ♪ 1195 01:12:11,869 --> 01:12:14,080 ♪ He was spendin' that trash ♪ 1196 01:12:14,122 --> 01:12:15,706 [Friedwald] The way she covers up 1197 01:12:15,748 --> 01:12:17,583 forgetting the words was just so brilliant 1198 01:12:17,625 --> 01:12:22,463 and so inventive and innovative that it didn't matter. 1199 01:12:22,505 --> 01:12:24,507 ♪ Yes, we sung it ♪ 1200 01:12:24,548 --> 01:12:25,883 [Friedwald] It worked brilliantly. 1201 01:12:25,925 --> 01:12:28,636 ♪ You won't recognise it ♪ 1202 01:12:30,138 --> 01:12:32,640 ♪ It's a surprise tune ♪ 1203 01:12:32,682 --> 01:12:35,685 ♪ We told you look out Look out, look out ♪ 1204 01:12:35,726 --> 01:12:41,983 ♪ Old Macheath's back in town ♪ 1205 01:12:43,526 --> 01:12:45,278 [crowd shrieks] 1206 01:12:58,457 --> 01:13:00,293 [Newscaster] There's a super-charged atmosphere, 1207 01:13:00,335 --> 01:13:03,587 lots of racial antagonism flared into violence. 1208 01:13:03,629 --> 01:13:06,174 Firemen turned their hoses on the angry crowd. 1209 01:13:06,216 --> 01:13:09,426 Police dogs were brought in to disperse shouting Negros. 1210 01:13:11,762 --> 01:13:14,974 [narrator] The civil rights struggles of the early 1960s 1211 01:13:15,016 --> 01:13:19,603 became the background to Ella Fitzgerald's overseas tours. 1212 01:13:21,647 --> 01:13:24,192 [Ella] Travelling, you'll be surprised at things 1213 01:13:24,234 --> 01:13:26,027 that people in other countries say 1214 01:13:26,069 --> 01:13:27,904 when they read the papers about it, 1215 01:13:27,945 --> 01:13:30,281 "My gosh, what is this going on?" 1216 01:13:32,200 --> 01:13:34,160 And you feel embarrassed, really you do, 1217 01:13:34,202 --> 01:13:36,412 because you say, "Well, gee, what can you say?" 1218 01:13:36,453 --> 01:13:41,125 What can you say? There's nothing, and it's really pitiful. 1219 01:13:42,668 --> 01:13:45,713 [narrator] During a radio interview in 1963 1220 01:13:45,755 --> 01:13:47,340 with Fred Robbins, 1221 01:13:47,382 --> 01:13:50,551 a prominent radio show host and trusted friend, 1222 01:13:50,593 --> 01:13:54,597 Ella surprisingly spoke out about prejudice in America. 1223 01:13:54,638 --> 01:13:56,432 [police siren blares] 1224 01:13:56,473 --> 01:13:57,975 [Ella] Maybe I'm stepping out, 1225 01:13:58,017 --> 01:13:59,936 but I have to say because it's in my heart, 1226 01:13:59,977 --> 01:14:02,063 but it makes you feel so bad to think 1227 01:14:02,105 --> 01:14:06,025 that we can't go down to certain parts of the South 1228 01:14:06,067 --> 01:14:08,652 and give a concert like we do overseas, 1229 01:14:08,694 --> 01:14:12,823 and have everybody just come to hear the music and enjoy the music, 1230 01:14:12,865 --> 01:14:18,871 because of the prejudice thing that's going on. 1231 01:14:18,913 --> 01:14:20,664 [sombre music] 1232 01:14:23,876 --> 01:14:26,296 I used to always like to clam up, because you say, 1233 01:14:26,337 --> 01:14:30,133 "Well, gee, show people should stay out of politics". 1234 01:14:30,174 --> 01:14:36,013 But we have travelled so much and been embarrassed so much. 1235 01:14:36,055 --> 01:14:41,102 They can't understand why we don't play in Alabama, "You don't play there. 1236 01:14:41,144 --> 01:14:44,730 Why can't you have a concert? Music is music". 1237 01:14:46,649 --> 01:14:48,943 She never made a political statement 1238 01:14:48,985 --> 01:14:53,697 except the one that I heard her say was only three words, 1239 01:14:53,739 --> 01:14:57,660 and it was the most complete definition 1240 01:14:57,701 --> 01:15:00,413 of the ignorance of the world 1241 01:15:00,455 --> 01:15:03,916 in the way they treat African Americans. 1242 01:15:03,958 --> 01:15:07,628 She said, "Tony, we're all here". 1243 01:15:07,670 --> 01:15:10,840 In three words, she said the whole thing. 1244 01:15:10,881 --> 01:15:12,758 [sombre piano music] 1245 01:15:15,845 --> 01:15:17,930 [Ella] The diehards, they're going to just die hard, 1246 01:15:17,972 --> 01:15:19,723 they're not going to give in. 1247 01:15:19,765 --> 01:15:23,436 And then you've got to try to convince the younger ones, 1248 01:15:23,478 --> 01:15:25,771 they're the ones that have got to make the future. 1249 01:15:25,813 --> 01:15:29,025 And those are the ones we gotta worry about, not those diehards. 1250 01:15:29,066 --> 01:15:31,152 [sombre piano music] 1251 01:15:35,531 --> 01:15:36,866 I really ran my mouth. 1252 01:15:36,907 --> 01:15:38,409 -[Robbins] Really? -Where does this go? 1253 01:15:38,451 --> 01:15:39,869 [Robbins] This goes all over the world. 1254 01:15:39,910 --> 01:15:41,704 -[Ella] It does? -[Robbins] Yes, it does. 1255 01:15:41,745 --> 01:15:43,998 -[Ella] Is it going down... -It's going down South, too. 1256 01:15:44,040 --> 01:15:45,749 [Ella] You think they're gonna break my records up when they hear it? 1257 01:15:45,791 --> 01:15:47,668 -[Ella laughs] -[Robbins] No, they won't. 1258 01:15:51,130 --> 01:15:52,548 [Ella] This is unusual for me, 1259 01:15:52,589 --> 01:15:55,468 but I'm so happy that you had me, 1260 01:15:55,510 --> 01:15:57,720 because instead of singing, for a change, 1261 01:15:57,761 --> 01:16:01,474 I got the chance to get a few things off my chest. 1262 01:16:02,933 --> 01:16:04,601 I'm just a human being. 1263 01:16:06,020 --> 01:16:08,856 [narrator] The interview was never broadcast. 1264 01:16:11,650 --> 01:16:14,278 [Robinson] Back in the day when Ella was coming up, 1265 01:16:14,320 --> 01:16:16,072 it had to be horrible. 1266 01:16:16,113 --> 01:16:18,449 I've been through horror. 1267 01:16:18,491 --> 01:16:20,826 I've been through the Civil Rights Movement, 1268 01:16:20,868 --> 01:16:23,954 I was there for that, the sit-ins and the marching, and the this and the that. 1269 01:16:23,996 --> 01:16:27,917 Going and sitting at the counter in the restaurants, 1270 01:16:27,958 --> 01:16:31,087 where, first of all, they didn't want you to come in there. 1271 01:16:31,128 --> 01:16:34,090 You sit there for an hour, an hour and a half 1272 01:16:34,131 --> 01:16:37,843 before somebody would come and say, "We wish you would leave". 1273 01:16:39,845 --> 01:16:43,433 We were travelling in the South many times. 1274 01:16:43,474 --> 01:16:45,684 We couldn't stay at any of the major hotels. 1275 01:16:45,726 --> 01:16:48,271 Gosh, and this is in the '60s and the '70s. 1276 01:16:48,312 --> 01:16:49,939 We couldn't stay in the major hotels. 1277 01:16:49,980 --> 01:16:52,483 We had to go to the black side of town and stay in... 1278 01:16:52,525 --> 01:16:54,651 They had rooming houses over there. 1279 01:16:56,612 --> 01:16:59,240 But artists like Ella fought that fight 1280 01:16:59,282 --> 01:17:02,118 to break down those doors and break down those barriers 1281 01:17:02,159 --> 01:17:04,287 for people like me. 1282 01:17:04,328 --> 01:17:10,626 Race was obviously something that we lived with, 1283 01:17:10,667 --> 01:17:12,378 continue to live with. 1284 01:17:13,879 --> 01:17:17,883 ♪ That's why the lady is a tramp ♪ 1285 01:17:17,925 --> 01:17:21,762 ♪ Doesn't dig dice games With barons and earls ♪ 1286 01:17:21,804 --> 01:17:25,266 ♪ I won't go to Harlem In ermine and pearls ♪ 1287 01:17:25,308 --> 01:17:29,770 ♪ She won't dish the dirt With the rest of those girls ♪ 1288 01:17:29,812 --> 01:17:32,856 ♪ That's why the lady is a tramp ♪ 1289 01:17:32,898 --> 01:17:37,736 ♪ I love the free, fresh wind In my hair ♪ 1290 01:17:37,778 --> 01:17:39,530 ♪ Life without care ♪ 1291 01:17:39,572 --> 01:17:40,781 ♪ I'm broke ♪ 1292 01:17:40,823 --> 01:17:42,074 ♪ That's OK ♪ 1293 01:17:45,411 --> 01:17:47,788 ♪ Sweet, lovely lady, be good ♪ 1294 01:17:47,830 --> 01:17:50,666 ♪ Oh, lady, be good to me ♪ 1295 01:17:50,707 --> 01:17:53,752 ♪ 'Cause I'm So awfully misunderstood ♪ 1296 01:17:53,794 --> 01:17:57,006 ♪ Oh, lady, oh lady, Oh, lady, be good to me ♪ 1297 01:17:57,047 --> 01:17:59,300 [narrator] Ella was the First Lady of Song. 1298 01:17:59,342 --> 01:18:04,430 Loved, admired, respected by audiences and musicians. 1299 01:18:05,973 --> 01:18:09,268 ♪ Oh, lady, oh lady, Oh, lady, be good to me ♪ 1300 01:18:09,310 --> 01:18:11,187 [scatting] 1301 01:18:15,399 --> 01:18:17,776 ♪ I'm so lonesome today ♪ 1302 01:18:17,818 --> 01:18:21,572 ♪ And so, lady, oh, lady, lady Won't you be so good to me? ♪ 1303 01:18:21,614 --> 01:18:22,865 ♪ Please, please ♪ 1304 01:18:22,906 --> 01:18:25,075 ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ 1305 01:18:25,117 --> 01:18:27,370 [audience applauds] 1306 01:18:35,503 --> 01:18:39,798 [Jefferson] Ella had her own sorrows, her own troubles, 1307 01:18:39,840 --> 01:18:44,637 and she had found her own way to master suffering, 1308 01:18:44,679 --> 01:18:49,725 unhappiness, grief, shame and make it something else. 1309 01:18:51,644 --> 01:18:54,021 And one of those things is joy. 1310 01:18:54,855 --> 01:18:56,649 [audience cheering] 1311 01:18:59,109 --> 01:19:03,280 [narrator] She had been singing for 60 years. 1312 01:19:03,322 --> 01:19:09,953 "The kids call me 'Mama Jazz'" she said, "that's so cute". 1313 01:19:09,995 --> 01:19:16,043 The thing about Ella is, like, perfection, great artistry. 1314 01:19:16,085 --> 01:19:17,503 Thank you. 1315 01:19:17,545 --> 01:19:20,464 There's only one thing that you cannot teach, 1316 01:19:20,506 --> 01:19:23,800 and that's that certain magic. 1317 01:19:23,842 --> 01:19:27,012 You cannot teach magic. You can't. 1318 01:19:27,054 --> 01:19:31,183 And then when Ella turns a phrase, that's magic. 1319 01:19:31,225 --> 01:19:34,687 ♪ He'll look at me and smile ♪ 1320 01:19:35,896 --> 01:19:40,484 ♪ And I will understand ♪ 1321 01:19:40,526 --> 01:19:46,073 ♪ And in a little while You'll take my hand ♪ 1322 01:19:48,117 --> 01:19:50,327 [narrator] Ella's punishing tour schedule 1323 01:19:50,369 --> 01:19:54,790 kept her on the road in to her seventh decade. 1324 01:19:54,831 --> 01:19:58,210 [Jim Blackman] Paul Smith, the pianist, one time he told me 1325 01:19:58,252 --> 01:20:02,131 she had worked something like 48 weeks out of 52. 1326 01:20:02,172 --> 01:20:05,593 He said he and Stan Levy, who at the time was the drummer, 1327 01:20:05,635 --> 01:20:08,345 after that last concert they took their tuxedos, 1328 01:20:08,387 --> 01:20:11,265 ripped them up and threw them in the garbage can. 1329 01:20:11,307 --> 01:20:13,476 And they had had it. 1330 01:20:13,517 --> 01:20:18,481 ♪ He'll build a little home ♪ 1331 01:20:18,522 --> 01:20:20,357 ♪ Just meant for two ♪ 1332 01:20:20,399 --> 01:20:22,735 [narrator] One more tour in the mid-'80s 1333 01:20:22,777 --> 01:20:25,529 seemed to be the end of the road for Ella. 1334 01:20:29,325 --> 01:20:31,619 [Field] We were on the road with Ella, 1335 01:20:31,661 --> 01:20:35,122 we had been out for 12 days, four concerts. 1336 01:20:35,164 --> 01:20:38,375 And I'm checking out of the Hilton in Niagara Falls 1337 01:20:38,417 --> 01:20:41,462 and the elevator doors open up, and Ella is standing there, 1338 01:20:41,504 --> 01:20:43,339 grasping her chest, 1339 01:20:43,380 --> 01:20:47,884 holding on to her road manager, Pete, 1340 01:20:47,926 --> 01:20:50,095 saying, "I can't catch my breath". 1341 01:20:50,137 --> 01:20:52,848 She was having congestive heart failure. 1342 01:20:52,889 --> 01:20:55,768 ["The Man I Love" by Ella Fitzgerald] 1343 01:20:58,562 --> 01:21:02,024 We're coming up to Ella's house right now. 1344 01:21:02,065 --> 01:21:03,526 [narrator] Jim Blackman 1345 01:21:03,567 --> 01:21:05,820 fell in love with Ella Fitzgerald's music 1346 01:21:05,861 --> 01:21:07,738 when he was 15. 1347 01:21:07,780 --> 01:21:12,201 For half a century, he was her most loyal fan. 1348 01:21:12,242 --> 01:21:17,914 He became her trusted friend and her final road manager. 1349 01:21:17,956 --> 01:21:20,292 [Blackman] She knew I was honest with her. 1350 01:21:20,334 --> 01:21:22,919 She knew that she could trust me. 1351 01:21:24,714 --> 01:21:27,216 After her operation in '86, 1352 01:21:27,257 --> 01:21:30,052 when they thought she wouldn't be able to sing again, 1353 01:21:30,093 --> 01:21:32,262 Ella wanted to rehearse. 1354 01:21:32,304 --> 01:21:35,057 She was raring to go three months later. 1355 01:21:35,098 --> 01:21:38,602 ♪ The way you wear your hat ♪ 1356 01:21:40,771 --> 01:21:45,609 ♪ The way you sip your tea ♪ 1357 01:21:45,651 --> 01:21:48,195 [Bennett] I met her at the airport, 1358 01:21:48,237 --> 01:21:51,073 and this was a time when her doctor was saying, 1359 01:21:51,114 --> 01:21:53,200 "Ella, don't travel". 1360 01:21:53,242 --> 01:21:57,079 ♪ They can't take that Away from me ♪ 1361 01:21:57,120 --> 01:21:58,121 [Bennett] I said, "Where are you going?" 1362 01:21:58,163 --> 01:21:59,707 She said, "I can't wait, 1363 01:21:59,749 --> 01:22:01,375 I'm going to do a date". 1364 01:22:01,417 --> 01:22:04,587 She loved the audience, she loved to perform that much 1365 01:22:04,628 --> 01:22:08,465 that thousands of miles away from where she was going, 1366 01:22:08,507 --> 01:22:10,967 she couldn't wait to get on that stage 1367 01:22:11,009 --> 01:22:14,555 to get that audience and give them the time of their life. 1368 01:22:14,597 --> 01:22:19,017 ♪ They can't take that away ♪ 1369 01:22:19,059 --> 01:22:20,519 ♪ Away ♪ 1370 01:22:26,191 --> 01:22:32,656 ♪ Can't take that away from me ♪ 1371 01:22:34,199 --> 01:22:36,076 -[music ends] -[audience applauds] 1372 01:22:38,078 --> 01:22:39,455 Thank you. 1373 01:22:39,496 --> 01:22:40,831 [Blackman] When she'd do a concert 1374 01:22:40,873 --> 01:22:42,708 people would be screaming at the end 1375 01:22:42,750 --> 01:22:45,878 and then she'd come off and say "Do you think they liked me?" 1376 01:22:45,920 --> 01:22:47,797 [audience applauds] 1377 01:22:51,091 --> 01:22:56,430 I mean, the woman was a genius who had no idea, 1378 01:22:56,472 --> 01:23:00,893 no idea of her own genius. None. 1379 01:23:00,935 --> 01:23:03,395 [audience screams and applauds] 1380 01:23:05,731 --> 01:23:08,859 [Brown Jr.] People truly loved her. 1381 01:23:08,901 --> 01:23:12,028 I was in Ukraine doing a concert. 1382 01:23:13,989 --> 01:23:19,328 It was cold, I mean it was cold. 1383 01:23:19,369 --> 01:23:25,584 We ran out of the venue and we got on the bus. 1384 01:23:25,626 --> 01:23:27,837 The windows were all frosted over. 1385 01:23:27,878 --> 01:23:30,088 [taps on table] 1386 01:23:30,130 --> 01:23:33,884 And this man, standing outside the bus, 1387 01:23:33,926 --> 01:23:37,429 says, "I loved your mother, she was so wonderful". 1388 01:23:37,471 --> 01:23:42,058 He had these flowers and he wanted to give them to me. 1389 01:23:43,560 --> 01:23:44,979 [sighs] 1390 01:23:45,020 --> 01:23:46,897 [audience cheers and applauds] 1391 01:23:55,656 --> 01:23:57,825 Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. 1392 01:24:01,787 --> 01:24:02,830 Thank you. 1393 01:24:02,872 --> 01:24:04,999 And I'm so proud to be in class 1394 01:24:05,040 --> 01:24:07,918 with all of these younger ones coming up. 1395 01:24:07,960 --> 01:24:10,629 They ain't going to leave me behind, I'm learning how to rap. 1396 01:24:10,671 --> 01:24:12,422 [audience laughs] 1397 01:24:14,508 --> 01:24:17,427 Every now and then I said, "I'm thinking about coming back". 1398 01:24:17,469 --> 01:24:21,849 She says, "I'll believe it when I see it". You know. 1399 01:24:21,891 --> 01:24:26,812 So, I didn't come back until I found out 1400 01:24:26,854 --> 01:24:30,024 that she was seriously ill. 1401 01:24:30,065 --> 01:24:31,817 [indistinct chatter] 1402 01:24:31,859 --> 01:24:33,694 [sombre piano music] 1403 01:24:39,992 --> 01:24:46,498 Of course, the dynamics in our lives had changed tremendously. 1404 01:24:47,290 --> 01:24:52,922 But to see grace like you'd never seen before, 1405 01:24:52,963 --> 01:24:58,468 in someone who knows they have a limited lifespan... 1406 01:24:58,510 --> 01:25:00,429 -Did you say "thank you"? -Thank you. 1407 01:25:00,470 --> 01:25:03,849 ...to see the way that they deal with people every day, 1408 01:25:03,891 --> 01:25:05,559 You want one, too? 1409 01:25:06,685 --> 01:25:08,520 and to see such kindness... 1410 01:25:09,646 --> 01:25:13,692 it was amazing. 1411 01:25:13,734 --> 01:25:17,153 Aww, you gave it to me. 1412 01:25:17,195 --> 01:25:20,365 Turn around, Daddy is taking your picture. 1413 01:25:20,407 --> 01:25:23,660 [man] We've got to get a picture. Alright, yeah. 1414 01:25:23,702 --> 01:25:25,788 [Ella] Okay, now let me get in here. 1415 01:25:25,829 --> 01:25:27,915 [man] You've got to get in there, too. 1416 01:25:33,169 --> 01:25:35,171 [woman] Curtis, open your eyes! 1417 01:25:38,092 --> 01:25:40,218 You'd see a little baby, 'cause she loved kids, 1418 01:25:40,260 --> 01:25:43,388 and then she'd just go, "How you doing, my little..." 1419 01:25:43,430 --> 01:25:45,891 and she'd just start singing to the baby. 1420 01:25:45,933 --> 01:25:52,272 ♪ Your daddy's rich ♪ 1421 01:25:55,567 --> 01:26:01,824 ♪ And your ma is good lookin' ♪ 1422 01:26:06,578 --> 01:26:12,918 ♪ So hush, little baby ♪ 1423 01:26:14,920 --> 01:26:21,217 ♪ Baby, don't ♪ 1424 01:26:23,261 --> 01:26:26,849 ♪ You cry ♪ 1425 01:26:26,890 --> 01:26:29,018 [Brown Jr.] I remember the funeral. 1426 01:26:29,059 --> 01:26:33,105 And I'd got all changed, 1427 01:26:33,147 --> 01:26:35,315 and I had to go to the grocery store. 1428 01:26:35,357 --> 01:26:37,067 I'm in the grocery store. 1429 01:26:39,862 --> 01:26:41,738 and what comes on? 1430 01:26:42,781 --> 01:26:44,116 Her music. 1431 01:26:44,158 --> 01:26:49,579 ♪ I could cry ♪ 1432 01:26:49,621 --> 01:26:54,793 ♪ Salty tears ♪ 1433 01:26:54,835 --> 01:26:58,172 ♪ Where have I been ♪ 1434 01:26:58,213 --> 01:27:03,301 ♪ All these years? ♪ 1435 01:27:03,343 --> 01:27:09,183 ♪ Little wow, tell me now ♪ 1436 01:27:09,224 --> 01:27:15,689 ♪ How long has this been Occurrin'? ♪ 1437 01:27:17,566 --> 01:27:22,529 ♪ How long has this ♪ 1438 01:27:22,571 --> 01:27:27,367 ♪ Been going ♪ 1439 01:27:27,409 --> 01:27:33,373 ♪ On? ♪ 1440 01:27:33,415 --> 01:27:35,751 -[music ends] -[audience applauds] 1441 01:27:42,382 --> 01:27:43,800 [applause fades] 1442 01:27:43,842 --> 01:27:46,428 [Alexis Morrast] Everything comes back around. 1443 01:27:47,429 --> 01:27:50,057 The way that Ella was reserved, 1444 01:27:50,099 --> 01:27:53,309 and the way she was poised and passionate, 1445 01:27:53,351 --> 01:27:56,939 you could never tell what her feelings were 1446 01:27:56,980 --> 01:27:58,607 until she got to the music. 1447 01:27:58,648 --> 01:28:01,359 And then it was always happiness and joy, 1448 01:28:01,401 --> 01:28:04,238 and everything else that you could have ever hoped for. 1449 01:28:04,279 --> 01:28:07,241 ♪ A-tisket a-tasket ♪ 1450 01:28:07,282 --> 01:28:09,868 ♪ A brown and yellow basket ♪ 1451 01:28:09,910 --> 01:28:12,537 ♪ I sent a letter to my mummy ♪ 1452 01:28:12,579 --> 01:28:14,706 ♪ And on the way I dropped it ♪ 1453 01:28:14,748 --> 01:28:17,667 ♪ I dropped it, I dropped it ♪ 1454 01:28:17,709 --> 01:28:19,920 ♪ My little yellow basket ♪ 1455 01:28:19,962 --> 01:28:22,589 ♪ A little girly She picked it up ♪ 1456 01:28:22,631 --> 01:28:25,134 ♪ And put it in her pocket ♪ 1457 01:28:25,175 --> 01:28:30,680 ♪ Oh, gee, I wonder where my basket could be ♪ 1458 01:28:30,722 --> 01:28:35,769 ♪ So do we, so do we So do we, so do we, so do we ♪ 1459 01:28:35,811 --> 01:28:41,191 ♪ Oh, why was I so careless With that basket of mine? ♪ 1460 01:28:41,233 --> 01:28:43,777 ♪ That itty-bitty basket ♪ 1461 01:28:43,819 --> 01:28:46,488 ♪ Was a joy of mine ♪ 1462 01:28:46,529 --> 01:28:49,407 ♪ A-tisket a-tasket ♪ 1463 01:28:49,449 --> 01:28:51,952 ♪ I lost my yellow basket ♪ 1464 01:28:51,994 --> 01:28:54,621 ♪ Oh, can somebody Help me find it ♪ 1465 01:28:54,663 --> 01:28:57,166 ♪ And make me happy again, again ♪ 1466 01:28:57,207 --> 01:28:59,751 ♪ Was it red? No, no, no, no ♪ 1467 01:28:59,793 --> 01:29:02,129 ♪ Was it blue? No, no, no, no ♪ 1468 01:29:02,171 --> 01:29:05,132 ♪ Was it green? No, no, no, no ♪ 1469 01:29:05,174 --> 01:29:10,012 ♪ My little yellow basket ♪