'For Ella &Jazz’ at Accra City Hotel on Sunday

MAXIMUM Jazz will host ‘For Ella &Jazz’, a musical and 50s Broadway theatre production on Sunday, July 30 at Accra City Hotel.

The 7pm concert-stage play is in remembrance of the legendary Jazz singer, Ella Jane Fitzgerald who died 27 years ago.

The late Ella's influence on the Jazz genre world- wide is still very profound. Her definition of vocal Jazz remains unparalleled.

In an interview with Graphic Showbiz, Founder of Maximum Jazz, Yomi Sower indicated “It is appropriate to celebrate Ella Fitzgerald, for her consistency that spanned six decades.

“The stage play is set in racially-segregated USA of the 1950s when Black musicians, including Ella Fitzgerald, displayed hard work, resilience and a commitment to quality musicianship in spite of being discriminated, paid poorly and treated less respectably than their white contemporaries.

“It is a lesson for today's musicians or celebs, many of whom feel entitled, and the ones who put out mechanically- enhanced musical works that require little artistic effort, that to remain relevant for many decades, a musician must work hard, train constantly to hone their musical skills".

According to Ms Sower who will play Ella, the play will feature an acoustic Jazz quintet playing grand piano, double bass, drums and horns.

Ms Sower

Ms Sower who is also a Jazz singer, script-writer-director added, “to get the authentic flavour of Jazz music one needs to utilise acoustic instruments. During Ella's career, Jazz-Bebop, Swing, Big band styles were played acoustic".

“We at Maximum Jazz have discovered a new crop of Jazz audiences,  enthusiasts, musicians,  performers, support groups and investors within Ghana , who are musically, theoretically and historically savvy about where Jazz came from, and  where it is heading to”, she added.

Ella Jane Fitzgerald, born April 25, 1917 was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as ‘First Lady of Song’, ‘Queen of Jazz’ and ‘Lady Ella’.

She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation and a ‘horn-like’ improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing .

She made her first recording, ‘Love and Kisses’, in 1935, and her first hit, ‘A-Tisket, A-Tasket’ followed in 1938. Her status rose dramatically in the 1950s when jazz impresario Norman Granz became her manager.

From 1956 to 1964 she recorded a 19-volume series of ‘songbooks’, in which she interpreted nearly 250 outstanding songs by Richard Rodgers and Cole Porter among others.

During the 1970s she began to experience serious health problems, but she continued to perform periodically, even after heart surgery in 1986. 

In 1993, however, her career was curtailed following complications stemming from diabetes, which resulted in the amputation of both her legs below the knees. She died on June 15, 1996 .

Ella Fitzgerald  garnered 14 Grammy Awards, including one for Lifetime Achievement. She also received a Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement (1979) and the National Medal of Arts(1987).