Music Artists

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“The First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald was arguably the finest female jazz singer of all time (although some may vote for Sarah Vaughan or Billie Holiday). Blessed with a beautiful voice and a wide range, Fitzgerald could outswing anyone, was a brilliant scat singer, and had near-perfect elocution; one could always understand the words she sang. The one fault was that, since she always sounded so happy to be singing, Fitzgerald did not always dig below the surface of the lyrics she interpreted and she even made a downbeat song such as “Love for Sale” sound joyous. However, when one evaluates her career on a whole, there is simply no one else in her class.One could never guess from her singing that Ella Fitzgerald ’s early days were as grim as Billie Holiday’s. Growing up in poverty, Fitzgerald was literally homeless for the year before she got her big break. In 1934, she appeared at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, winning an amateur contest by singing “Judy” in the style of her idol, Connee Boswell. After a short stint with Tiny Bradshaw, Fitzgerald was brought to the attention of Chick Webb by Benny Carter (who was in the audience at the Apollo). Webb, who was not impressed by the 17-year-old’s appearance, was reluctantly persuaded to let her sing with his orchestra on a one-nighter. She went over well and soon the drummer recognized her commercial potential. Starting in 1935, Fitzgerald began recording with Webb’s Orchestra, and by 1937 over half of the band’s selections featured her voice. “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” became a huge hit in 1938 and “Undecided” soon followed. During this era, Fitzgerald was essentially a pop/swing singer who was best on ballads while her medium-tempo performances were generally juvenile novelties. She already had a beautiful voice but did not improvise or scat much; that would develop later.On June 16, 1939, Chick Webb died. It was decided that Fitzgerald would front the orchestra even though she had little to do with the repertoire or hiring or firing the musicians. She retained her popularity and when she broke up the band in 1941 and went solo; it was not long before her Decca recordings contained more than their share of hits. She was teamed with the Ink Spots, Louis Jordan, and the Delta Rhythm Boys for some best-sellers, and in 1946 began working regularly for Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic. Granz became her manager although it would be nearly a decade before he could get her on his label. A major change occurred in Fitzgerald’s singing around this period. She toured with Dizzy Gillespie’s big band, adopted bop as part of her style, and started including exciting scat-filled romps in her set. Her recordings of “Lady Be Good,” “How High the Moon,” and “Flying Home” during 1945-1947 became popular and her stature as a major jazz singer rose as a result. For a time (December 10, 1947-August 28, 1953) she was married to bassist Ray Brown and used his trio as a backup group. Fitzgerald’s series of duets with pianist Ellis Larkins in 1950 (a 1954 encore with Larkins was a successful follow-up) found her interpreting George Gershwin songs, predating her upcoming Songbooks series.After appearing in the film Pete Kelly’s Blues in 1955, Fitzgerald signed with Norman Granz’s Verve label and over the next few years she would record extensive Songbooks of the music of Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Rodgers & Hart, Duke Ellington, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, and Johnny Mercer. Although (with the exception of the Ellington sets) those were not her most jazz-oriented projects (Fitzgerald stuck mostly to the melody and was generally accompanied by string orchestras), the prestigious projects did a great deal to uplift her stature. At the peak of her powers around 1960, Fitzgerald’s hilarious live version of “Mack the Knife” (in which she forgot the words and made up her own) from Ella in Berlin is a classic and virtually all of her Verve recordings are worth getting.Fitzgerald’s Capitol and Reprise recordings of 1967-1970 are not on the same level as she attempted to “update” her singing by including pop songs such as “Sunny” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” sounding quite silly in the process. But Fitzgerald’s later years were saved by Norman Granz’s decision to form a new label, Pablo. Starting with a Santa Monica Civic concert in 1972 that is climaxed by Fitzgerald’s incredible version of “C Jam Blues” (in which she trades off with and “battles” five classic jazzmen), Fitzgerald was showcased in jazz settings throughout the 1970s with the likes of Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, and Joe Pass, among others. Her voice began to fade during this era and by the 1980s her decline due to age was quite noticeable. Troubles with her eyes and heart knocked her out of action for periods of time, although her increasingly rare appearances found Fitzgerald still retaining her sense of swing and joyful style. By 1994, Ella Fitzgerald was in retirement and she passed away two years later, but she remains a household name and scores of her recordings are easily available on CD. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
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According to the RIAA, United World Chart, and last.fm, Alanis Morissette is officially the best selling female rock artist of all time. Do you think she deserves it?

First, I want to give the best dressed award to Sienna Miller. Without question, she featured very eye-catching. I love the sea green colour of her Swarovski-encrusted Twenty8Twelve Fall 2009 dress. Shining and splendent. The length is perfect to show off her pins, and the shoulder pads are subtle enough not to draw any Balmain comparisons. She appropriately revealed her soft-line of the back, adding much more sweet playful feeling to us.

on the contrary, I don’t like the Lauren Conrad’s dress. red and navy floral print sleeveless dress with a ruffled hem, seems a little out of Lauren Conrad’s comfort-zone, which I really appreciate. It feels a bit dark and mysterious, which is complemented with dark red lips, and black strappy booties. I only wish she had pulled her hair back, to show off the floral shoulder detail.Miley Cyrus opted for a very soft look for this event. I would’ve expected something with a lot more attitude, but she looks lovely in her pale pink cowl neck dress, which had a ruffled detail, going down her back.I love to see bold bright colours on the red carpet, which is why I love Vanessa Hudgens peach satin Max Azria dress. The dress is very grown up, but she injects her youthful glow and enthusiasm, to make this a perfect red carpet look, which she pairs with Jimmy Choo shoes. Black dress can never be out of style, I think. Leighton Meester, the star who are famous with ‘Gossip Girl’ wore dress with peek-a-boo parts, sheer panels, folds, and cut-outs detail. Plus with her spiffy hair style, and Brian Atwood Brie purple suede ankle boots, she perfectly completes her look.
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A Day to Remember is a post-hardcore band from Ocala, Florida, formed in 2003. Their music generally consists of growled verses, clean pop-punk style choruses and breakdowns.

Early years (2003-2006)
After all playing in different bands in the Ocala music scene, singer Jeremy McKinnon, guitarists Neil Westfall and Tom Denney, bassist Joshua Woodard, and drummer Bobby Scruggs came together in 2003. Soon after, the band embarked on a “DIY” tour, playing well over 200 shows, making a name for themselves. They were signed to Indianola Records, from which they recorded their first full length, titled And Their Name Was Treason in May 2005. The album sold 8,000 copies on word of mouth alone, but the band felt that bigger and better things were to come. “A friend of mine said he had the AIM screenname of someone at Victory Records,” Woodard said. “I didn’t believe him, but I still started communicating with the guy. We IM’ed back and forth for about six months, and it happened that we were playing with the band On The Last Day in a town outside of Chicago—and this guy was going to be there filming it. It was our first time we ever played in Illinois, yet the 50-60 kids there were singing along to our tunes like they’d been fans all their lives.

Victory Records (2007-present)
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My dad left us his musical instruments(3 guitars, 4 fiddles, 2 mandolins). They were getting mildewed in the closet so mom wants to hang them on the wall. This climate is hot, humid, rainy, and the sunlight is strong enough to fade walnut. I was thinking a room facing north shaded by trees would be best. Anybody know? Most of these instruments are junk but the guitars are top of the line Martins and Gibsons, I want to give them the best care.