How Long to Read Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song

How Long Does it Take to Read Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song?

It takes the average reader 11 hours and 15 minutes to read Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song by Judith Tick

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

A landmark biography that reclaims Ella Fitzgerald as a major American artist and modernist innovator. Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996) possessed one of the twentieth century’s most astonishing voices. In this first major biography since Fitzgerald’s death, historian Judith Tick offers a sublime portrait of this ambitious risk-taker whose exceptional musical spontaneity made her a transformational artist. Becoming Ella Fitzgerald clears up long-enduring mysteries. Archival research and in-depth family interviews shed new light on the singer’s difficult childhood in Yonkers, New York, the tragic death of her mother, and the year she spent in a girls’ reformatory school—where she sang in its renowned choir and dreamed of being a dancer. Rarely seen profiles from the Black press offer precious glimpses of Fitzgerald’s tense experiences of racial discrimination and her struggles with constricting models of Black and white femininity at midcentury. Tick’s compelling narrative depicts Fitzgerald’s complicated career in fresh and original detail, upending the traditional view that segregates vocal jazz from the genre’s mainstream. As she navigated the shifting tides between jazz and pop, she used her originality to pioneer modernist vocal jazz. Interpreting long-lost setlists, reviews from both white and Black newspapers, and newly released footage and recordings, the book explores how Ella’s transcendence as an improvisor produced onstage performances every bit as significant as her historic recorded oeuvre. From the singer’s first performance at the Apollo Theatre’s famous “Amateur Night” to the Savoy Ballroom, where Fitzgerald broke through with Chick Webb’s big band in the 1930s, Tick evokes the jazz world in riveting detail. She describes how Ella helped shape the bebop movement in the 1940s, as she joined Dizzy Gillespie and her then-husband, Ray Brown, in the world-touring Jazz at the Philharmonic, one of the first moments of high-culture acceptance for the disreputable art form. Breaking ground as a female bandleader, Fitzgerald refuted expectations of musical Blackness, deftly balancing artistic ambition and market expectations. Her legendary exploration of the Great American Songbook in the 1950s fused a Black vocal aesthetic and jazz improvisation to revolutionize the popular repertoire. This hybridity often confounded critics, yet throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Ella reached audiences around the world, electrifying concert halls, and sold millions of records. A masterful biography, Becoming Ella Fitzgerald describes a powerful woman who set a standard for American excellence nearly unmatched in the twentieth century.

How long is Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song?

Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song by Judith Tick is 657 pages long, and a total of 168,849 words.

This makes it 222% the length of the average book. It also has 206% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 15 hours and 22 minutes to read Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song aloud.

What Reading Level is Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song?

Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song is suitable for students ages 12 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song?

Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song by Judith Tick is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

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