I talk a lot about how I love Paul Desmond’s sound, Wayne Shorter’s sound, Bill Evans’s sound, this, that, and the other thing. Nobody, but nobody, in the history of recorded sound, has a sound as pure, clear, and still so versatile as Ella Fitzgerald does. And that Louis Armstrong impression! I love her, you guys.
Here’s a lesson in being a woman: this woman is built like a brick house, she’s sweating and unpologetically wiping her face, and she’s one of the most beautiful, wonderful, incredibly gifted, amazing creatures that we have ever had the privilege to know in the history of civilization. So you can have your fucked-up patriarchal view of the feminine ideal. The rest of us will be over here with the radiant and sublime Lady Ella and you can miss out like you deserve.
She was more than just a singer. She was a true, complete musician, and even though she’s almost twenty years gone now, her legacy is the reason that music is more whole than it ever would have been otherwise.
