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The midnight sun at Nordkapp, Norway.

The Alta Fjord in Alta, Norway bathed in the Midnight Sun.

Midnight sun in Kiruna, Sweden.

The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon occurring in summer months at latitudes north and nearby to the north of the Arctic Circle, and south and nearby to the south of the Antarctic Circle where the sun remains visible at the local midnight. Given fair weather, the sun is visible for a continuous 24 hours, mostly north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle. The number of days per year with potential midnight sun increases the farther poleward one goes from the equator. Although approximately defined by the polar circles, in practice midnight sun can be seen as much as 90 km beyond the polar circle, because the sun is a disk and not a point, and the exact latitudes of the farthest reaches of midnight sun depend on topography and vary slightly year-to-year.

There are no permanent human settlements south of the Antarctic Circle, so the countries and territories whose populations experience it are limited to the ones crossed by the Arctic Circle, e.g. Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut), Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Sápmi, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United States (Alaska), and extremities of Iceland. A quarter of Finland's territory lies north of the Arctic Circle and at the country's northernmost point the sun does not set at all for 60 days during summer. In Svalbard, Norway, the northernmost inhabited region of Europe, there is no sunset from approximately 19 April to 23 August. The extreme sites are the poles where the sun can be continuously visible for a half year.

The opposite phenomenon, polar night, occurs in winter when the sun stays below the horizon throughout the day.

Since the Earth's axis is tilted with respect to the ecliptic by approximately 23 degrees 27 minutes, the sun does not set at high latitudes in (local) summer. The duration of the midnight sun increases from one day during the summer solstice at the polar circle to approximately six months at the poles. At extreme latitudes, it is usually referred to as polar day. The length of the time the sun is above the horizon varies from a couple of days at the Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle to 186 days at the poles.

At the poles themselves, the sun only rises once and sets once each year. During the six months when the sun is above the horizon at the poles, the sun spends the days constantly moving around the horizon, reaching its highest circuit of the sky at the summer solstice.

Due to refraction, the midnight sun may be experienced at latitudes slightly below the polar circle, though not exceeding one degree (depending on local conditions). For example, it is possible to experience the midnight sun in Iceland, even though most of it (Grímsey being a notable exception) is slightly south of the Arctic Circle. Even the northern extremities of Scotland (and those places on similar latitudes) experience a permanent "dusk" or glare in the northern skies at these times.

Time zones and daylight saving time[link]

For purposes of this article, the term "midnight sun" refers to the phenomena of 24 consecutive hours of sunlight north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle. There are, however, some instances which are sometimes referred to as "midnight sun", even though they are in reality due to meandering time zones and the observance of daylight saving time. For instance, in Fairbanks, Alaska, which is located south of the Arctic Circle, the sun sets at 12:47 a.m. on the summer solstice. This is because Fairbanks is one hour ahead of its idealized time zone (due to meandering for the purpose of keeping most of the state on one time zone) and because the state of Alaska observes daylight saving time. This means that solar culmination occurs at roughly 2 p.m. instead of at 12 noon, as in most places.

White Nights[link]

Locations above 60 degrees latitude that are south of the Arctic Circle or north of the Antarctic Circle experience midnight twilight instead. The sun is at the horizon to 6 degrees below the horizon, so that daytime activities, such as reading, are still possible without artificial light, if it is not cloudy.

White Nights have become a common symbol of Saint Petersburg, Russia, where they occur from about 11 June to 2 July, and the last 10 days of June are celebrated with cultural events.

When to see the midnight sun[link]

Map showing the dates of midnight sun at various latitudes (left) and the total number of nights.

According to Visit Norway the midnight sun is visible at the Arctic Circle from June 12 until July 1. The further north one goes the longer this period extends.

At North Cape, Norway, known as the northernmost point of Continental Europe this period extends approximately from May 14 to July 29. On the Svalbard archipelago further north this period extends from April 20 to August 22.^[1]

Effect on people[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Many find it difficult to fall asleep during the night when the sun is shining. In general, visitors and newcomers are most affected. Some natives are also affected, but in general to a lesser degree. The effect of the midnight sun, that is, not experiencing night for long durations of time, is said to cause hypomania, which is characterized by persistent and pervasive elevated or irritable mood.

ADHD symptoms could be caused by this, changing attention spans for people that have to rush through the little daylight at night and the irritability and hyperactivity of continuous sunlight.

The midnight sun also poses special challenges to religious people such as Jewish people who have religious rites based around the 24 hour day/night cycle. In the Jewish community this has given rise to a body of Jewish law in the polar regions, which attempts to deal with the special challenges of adhering to the Mitzvah in such conditions. Another related religion that suffers from this is Islam, where fasting during daylight hours in ramadan would imply total abstinence.

In fiction[link]

• In the film Insomnia and its American remake, the protagonist suffers from insomnia partially brought on by the midnight sun while investigating a murder north of the Arctic Circle (Norway in the original, and Alaska in the remake).
• In "The Midnight Sun", an episode of The Twilight Zone, the Earth is on a collision course with the sun, causing a midnight sun effect.
• The episode of Northern Exposure entitled Midnight Sun explores the effects of the phenomenon on the small Alaskan town's residents.
• In the Stephen Sondheim musical 'A Little Night Music', the two Night Waltzes deal specifically with the phenomenon of Midnight Sun.

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Midnight sun

• Eagle Summit, which experiences midnight sun despite being south of the Arctic Circle because of altitude
• Land of the Midnight Sun
• Polar night - The opposite phenomenon experienced in winter: a day without sunrise.

References[link]

Additional Reading[link]

1. Lutgens F.K., Tarbuck E.J. (2007) The Atmosphere, Tenth Edition, page 39, PEARSON, Prentice Hall, NJ.

External links[link]

• Visit Norway - Midnight Sun Page
• Midnight sun seen from Fjellheisen Tromsø - 360 panorama

v t e Parts of a day Dawn · Twilight–Sunrise · Morning · Daylight · Evening · Sunset–Twilight–Dusk · Night Related articles: Blue hour · Golden hour · Terminator · Forenoon · Noon · Afternoon · Midnight · Daytime · Midnight sun

Ella Fitzgerald
photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1940
Background information
Birth name	Ella Jane Fitzgerald
Also known as	First Lady of Song, Lady Ella
Born	(1917-04-25)April 25, 1917 Newport News, Virginia
Died	June 15, 1996(1996-06-15) (aged 79) Beverly Hills, California
Genres	Swing, traditional pop, vocal jazz
Occupations	Vocalist
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1934-1993
Labels	Capitol, Decca, Pablo, Reprise, Verve
Website	Official website

Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996), also known as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella", was an American jazz and song vocalist.^[1] With a vocal range spanning three octaves (D♭3 to D♭6), she was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing and intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.

Fitzgerald was a notable interpreter of the Great American Songbook.^[2] Over the course of her 59-year recording career, she was the winner of 13 Grammy Awards and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Ronald Reagan and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush.

Early life[link]

Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia, the child of a common-law marriage between William and Temperance "Tempie" Fitzgerald.^[3] The pair separated soon after her birth and she and her mother went to Yonkers, New York, where they eventually moved in with Tempie's longtime boyfriend, Joseph Da Silva. Fitzgerald's half-sister, Frances Da Silva, was born in 1923. She and her family were Methodists and were active in the Bethany African Methodist Episcopal Church and she regularly attended worship services, Bible study, and Sunday School.^[4][5]

In her youth Fitzgerald wanted to be a dancer, although she loved listening to jazz recordings by Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby and The Boswell Sisters. She idolized the lead singer Connee Boswell, later saying, "My mother brought home one of her records, and I fell in love with it....I tried so hard to sound just like her."^[6]

In 1932, her mother died from a heart attack.^[3] Following this trauma, Fitzgerald's grades dropped dramatically and she frequently skipped school. Abused by her stepfather, she was first taken in by an aunt ^[7] and at one point worked as a lookout at a bordello and also with a Mafia-affiliated numbers runner.^[8] When the authorities caught up with her, she was first placed in the Colored Orphan Asylum in Riverdale, the Bronx.^[9] However, when the orphanage proved too crowded she was moved to the New York Training School for Girls in Hudson, New York, a state reformatory. Eventually she escaped and for a time was homeless.^[7]

She made her singing debut at 17 on November 21, 1934, at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. She pulled in a weekly audience at the Apollo and won the opportunity to compete in one of the earliest of its famous "Amateur Nights". She had originally intended to go on stage and dance but, intimidated by the Edwards Sisters, a local dance duo, she opted to sing instead in the style of Connee Boswell. She sang Boswell's "Judy" and "The Object of My Affection," a song recorded by the Boswell Sisters, and won the first prize of US$25.00.^[10]

Later life[link]

Ella Fitzgerald photographed by Carl Van Vechten in 1940.

Fitzgerald married at least twice, and there is evidence that she may have married a third time. In 1941 she married Benny Kornegay, a convicted drug dealer and local dockworker. The marriage was annulled after two years.

Her second marriage, in December 1947, was to the famous bass player Ray Brown, whom she had met while on tour with Dizzy Gillespie's band a year earlier. Together they adopted a child born to Fitzgerald's half-sister, Frances, whom they christened Ray Brown, Jr. With Fitzgerald and Brown often busy touring and recording, the child was largely raised by her aunt, Virginia. Fitzgerald and Brown divorced in 1953, bowing to the various career pressures both were experiencing at the time, though they would continue to perform together.^[6]

In July 1957, Reuters reported that Fitzgerald had secretly married Thor Einar Larsen, a young Norwegian, in Oslo. She had even gone as far as furnishing an apartment in Oslo, but the affair was quickly forgotten when Larsen was sentenced to five months hard labor in Sweden for stealing money from a young woman to whom he had previously been engaged.^[3]

Fitzgerald was also notoriously shy. Trumpet player Mario Bauza, who played behind Fitzgerald in her early years with Chick Webb, remembered that "she didn’t hang out much. When she got into the band, she was dedicated to her music….She was a lonely girl around New York, just kept herself to herself, for the gig."^[3] When, later in her career, the Society of Singers named an award after her, Fitzgerald explained, "I don't want to say the wrong thing, which I always do. I think I do better when I sing."^[10]

Already visually impaired by the effects of diabetes, Fitzgerald had both her legs amputated in 1993.^[3] In 1996 she died of the disease in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 79. She is buried in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.^[11] The career history and archival material from Ella's long career are housed in the Archives Center at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History while her personal music arrangements are at The Library of Congress. Her extensive cookbook collection was donated to the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University while her published sheet music collection is at the Schoenberg Library at UCLA.

Career[link]

Big-band singing[link]

In January 1935, Fitzgerald won the chance to perform for a week with the Tiny Bradshaw band at the Harlem Opera House. She met drummer and bandleader Chick Webb there. Webb had already hired singer Charlie Linton to work with the band and was, The New York Times later wrote, "reluctant to sign her....because she was gawky and unkempt, a diamond in the rough."^[6] Webb offered her the opportunity to test with his band when they played a dance at Yale University.

She began singing regularly with Webb's Orchestra through 1935 at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom. Fitzgerald recorded several hit songs with them, including "Love and Kisses" and "(If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini)". But it was her 1938 version of the nursery rhyme, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket", a song she co-wrote, that brought her wide public acclaim.

Chick Webb died on June 16, 1939, and his band was renamed "Ella and her Famous Orchestra" with Ella taking on the role of nominal bandleader. Fitzgerald recorded nearly 150 sides with the orchestra before it broke up in 1942, "the majority of them novelties and disposable pop fluff".^[6]

Decca years[link]

Ella in 1947

In 1942, Fitzgerald left the band to begin a solo career. Now signed to the Decca label, she had several popular hits while recording with such artists as the Ink Spots, Louis Jordan, and the Delta Rhythm Boys.

With Decca's Milt Gabler as her manager, she began working regularly for the jazz impresario Norman Granz and appeared regularly in his Jazz at the Philharmonic (JATP) concerts. Fitzgerald's relationship with Granz was further cemented when he became her manager, although it would be nearly a decade before he could record her on one of his many record labels.

With the demise of the Swing era and the decline of the great touring big bands, a major change in jazz music occurred. The advent of bebop led to new developments in Fitzgerald's vocal style, influenced by her work with Dizzy Gillespie's big band. It this in was period that Fitzgerald started including scat singing as a major part of her performance repertoire. While singing with Gillespie, Fitzgerald recalled, "I just tried to do [with my voice] what I heard the horns in the band doing."^[10]

Her 1945 scat recording of "Flying Home" arranged by Vic Schoen would later be described by The New York Times as "one of the most influential vocal jazz records of the decade....Where other singers, most notably Louis Armstrong, had tried similar improvisation, no one before Miss Fitzgerald employed the technique with such dazzling inventiveness."^[6] Her bebop recording of "Oh, Lady be Good!" (1947) was similarly popular and increased her reputation as one of the leading jazz vocalists.^{[citation needed]}

Move to Verve and mainstream success[link]

Fitzgerald was still performing at Granz's JATP concerts by 1955. She left Decca and Granz, now her manager, created Verve Records around her.

Fitzgerald later described the period as strategically crucial, saying, "I had gotten to the point where I was only singing be-bop. I thought be-bop was 'it', and that all I had to do was go some place and sing bop. But it finally got to the point where I had no place to sing. I realized then that there was more to music than bop. Norman ... felt that I should do other things, so he produced The Cole Porter Songbook with me. It was a turning point in my life."^[6]

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook, released in 1956, was the first of eight multi-album Songbook sets Fitzgerald would record for Verve at irregular intervals from 1956 to 1964. The composers and lyricists spotlighted on each set, taken together, represent the greatest part of the cultural canon known as the Great American Songbook. Her song selections ranged from standards to rarities and represented an attempt by Fitzgerald to cross over into a non-jazz audience.

Ella Fitzgerald in 1968. Photo courtesy of the Fraser MacPherson estate

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook was the only Songbook on which the composer she interpreted played with her. Duke Ellington and his longtime collaborator Billy Strayhorn both appeared on exactly half the set's 38 tracks and wrote two new pieces of music for the album: "The E and D Blues" and a four-movement musical portrait of Fitzgerald (the only Songbook track on which Fitzgerald does not sing). The Songbook series ended up becoming the singer's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful work, and probably her most significant offering to American culture. The New York Times wrote in 1996, "These albums were among the first pop records to devote such serious attention to individual songwriters, and they were instrumental in establishing the pop album as a vehicle for serious musical exploration."^[6]

A few days after Fitzgerald's death, New York Times columnist Frank Rich wrote that in the Songbook series Fitzgerald "performed a cultural transaction as extraordinary as Elvis's contemporaneous integration of white and African-American soul. Here was a black woman popularizing urban songs often written by immigrant Jews to a national audience of predominantly white Christians."^[8] Frank Sinatra was moved out of respect for Fitzgerald to block Capitol Records from re-releasing his own recordings in a similar, single composer vein.

Fitzgerald also recorded albums exclusively devoted to the songs of Porter and Gershwin in 1972 and 1983; the albums being, respectively, Ella Loves Cole and Nice Work If You Can Get It. A later collection devoted to a single composer was released during her time with Pablo Records, Ella Abraça Jobim, featuring the songs of Antonio Carlos Jobim.

While recording the Songbooks and the occasional studio album, Fitzgerald toured 40 to 45 weeks per year in the United States and internationally, under the tutelage of Norman Granz. Granz helped solidify her position as one of the leading live jazz performers.^[6]

In the mid-1950s, Fitzgerald became the first African-American to perform at the Mocambo, after Marilyn Monroe had lobbied the owner for the booking. The booking was instrumental in Fitzgerald's career. The incident was turned into a play by Bonnie Greer in 2005. There are several live albums on Verve that are highly regarded by critics. Ella at the Opera House shows a typical JATP set from Fitzgerald. Ella in Rome and Twelve Nights In Hollywood display her vocal jazz canon. Ella in Berlin is still one of her best selling albums; it includes a Grammy-winning performance of "Mack the Knife" in which she forgets the lyrics, but improvises magnificently to compensate.

Voice[link]

As Will Friedwald noted,

Unlike any other singer you could name, Fitzgerald has the most amazing asset in the very sound of her voice: it's easily one of the most beautiful and sonically perfect sounds known to man. Even if she couldn't do anything with it, the instrument that Fitzgerald starts with is dulcet and pure and breathtakingly beautiful. As Henry Pleasants has observed, she has a wider range than most opera singers, and many of the latter, including Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, are among her biggest fans. And the intonation that goes with the voice is, to put it conservatively, God-like. Fitzgerald simply exists in tune, and she hits every note that there is without the slightest trace of effort. Other singers tend to sound like they're trying to reach up to a note - Fitzgerald always sounds like she's already there. If anything, she's descending from her heavenly perch and swooping down to whatever pitch she wants.^[12]

Henry Pleasants, an American classical-music critic, wrote this about her:

She has a lovely voice, one of the warmest and most radiant in its natural range that I have heard in a lifetime of listening to singers in every category. She has an impeccable and ultimately sophisticated rhythmic sense, and flawless intonation. Her harmonic sensibility is extraordinary. She is endlessly inventive... it is not so much what she does, or even the way she does it, it's what she does not do. What she does not do, putting it simply as possible, is anything wrong. There is simply nothing in performance to which one would take exception... Everything seems to be just right. One would not want it any other way. Nor can one, for a moment imagine it any other way.^[13] Fitzgerald had an extraordinary vocal range. A mezzo-soprano (who sang much lower than most classical contraltos), she had a range of “2 octaves and a sixth from a low D or D flat to a high C flat and possibly higher”.^[13]

Later years[link]

Verve Records was sold to MGM in 1963 for $3 million and in 1967 MGM failed to renew Fitzgerald's contract. Over the next five years she flitted between Atlantic, Capitol and Reprise. Her material at this time represented a departure from her typical jazz repertoire. For Capitol she recorded Brighten the Corner, an album of hymns, Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas, an album of traditional Christmas carols, Misty Blue, a country and western-influenced album, and 30 by Ella, a series of six medleys that fulfilled her obligations for the label. During this period, she had her last US chart single with a cover of Smokey Robinson's "Get Ready", previously a hit for The Temptations, and some months later a top-five hit for Rare Earth.

The surprise success of the 1972 album Jazz at Santa Monica Civic '72 led Granz to found Pablo Records, his first record label since the sale of Verve. Fitzgerald recorded some 20 albums for the label. Ella in London recorded live in 1974 with pianist Tommy Flanagan, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Keter Betts and drummer Bobby Durham, was considered by many to be some of her best work. The following year she again performed with Joe Pass on German television station NDR in Hamburg. Her years with Pablo Records also documented the decline in her voice. "She frequently used shorter, stabbing phrases, and her voice was harder, with a wider vibrato", one biographer wrote.^[3] Plagued by health problems, Fitzgerald made her last recording in 1991 and her last public performances in 1993.^[14]

Film and television[link]

Fitzgerald shakes hands with President Ronald Reagan after performing in the White House, 1981

In her most notable screen role, Fitzgerald played the part of singer Maggie Jackson in Jack Webb's 1955 jazz film Pete Kelly's Blues. The film costarred Janet Leigh and singer Peggy Lee. Even though she had already worked in the movies (she had sung briefly in the 1942 Abbott and Costello film Ride 'Em Cowboy), she was "delighted" when Norman Granz negotiated the role for her, and, "at the time....considered her role in the Warner Brothers movie the biggest thing ever to have happened to her."^[3] Amid The New York Times' pan of the film when it opened in August 1955, the reviewer wrote, "About five minutes (out of ninety-five) suggest the picture this might have been. Take the ingenious prologue ... [or] take the fleeting scenes when the wonderful Ella Fitzgerald, allotted a few spoken lines, fills the screen and sound track with her strong mobile features and voice."^[15] Fitzgerald's race precluded major big-screen success. After Pete Kelly's Blues, she appeared in sporadic movie cameos, in St. Louis Blues (1958), and Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960). Much later, she appeared in the 1980s television drama The White Shadow.

She made numerous guest appearances on television shows, singing on The Frank Sinatra Show, The Andy Williams Show, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, and alongside other greats Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Mel Tormé, and many others. Perhaps her most unusual and intriguing performance was of the 'Three Little Maids' song from Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operetta The Mikado alongside Joan Sutherland and Dinah Shore on Shore's weekly variety series in 1963. A performance at "Ronnie Scott's" jazz club in London was filmed and shown on the BBC. Fitzgerald also made a one-off appearance alongside Sarah Vaughan and Pearl Bailey on a 1979 television special honoring Bailey. In 1980, she performed a medley of standards in a duet with Karen Carpenter on the Carpenters' television program, Music, Music, Music. ^[16]

Fitzgerald also appeared in TV commercials, her most memorable being an ad for Memorex. In the commercials, she sang a note that shattered a glass while being recorded on a Memorex cassette tape. The tape was played back and the recording also broke the glass, asking "Is it live, or is it Memorex?" She also starred in a number of commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken, singing and scatting to the fast-food chain's longtime slogan, "We do chicken right!"^[17] Her final commercial campaign was for American Express, in which she was photographed by Annie Leibovitz.

Discography[link]

Collaborations[link]

Fitzgerald's most famous collaborations were with the trumpeter Louis Armstrong, the guitarist Joe Pass, and the bandleaders Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

• Fitzgerald recorded three Verve studio albums with Armstrong, two albums of standards (1956's Ella and Louis and 1957's Ella and Louis Again), and a third album featured music from the Gershwin musical Porgy and Bess. Fitzgerald also recorded a number of sides with Armstrong for Decca in the early 1950s.
• Fitzgerald is sometimes referred to as the quintessential swing singer, and her meetings with Count Basie are highly regarded by critics. Fitzgerald features on one track on Basie's 1957 album One O'Clock Jump, while her 1963 album Ella and Basie! is remembered as one of her greatest recordings. With the 'New Testament' Basie band in full swing, and arrangements written by a young Quincy Jones, this album proved a respite from the 'Songbook' recordings and constant touring that Fitzgerald was engaged in during this period. Fitzgerald and Basie also collaborated on the 1972 album Jazz at Santa Monica Civic '72, and on the 1979 albums Digital III at Montreux, A Classy Pair and A Perfect Match.
• Fitzgerald and Joe Pass recorded four albums together toward the end of Fitzgerald's career. She recorded several albums with piano accompaniment, but a guitar proved the perfect melodic foil for her. Fitzgerald and Pass appeared together on the albums Take Love Easy (1973), Easy Living (1986), Speak Love (1983) and Fitzgerald and Pass... Again (1976).
• Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington recorded two live albums, and two studio albums. Her Duke Ellington Songbook placed Ellington firmly in the canon known as the Great American Songbook, and the 1960s saw Fitzgerald and the 'Duke' meet on the Côte d'Azur for the 1966 album Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur, and in Sweden for The Stockholm Concert, 1966. Their 1965 album Ella at Duke's Place is also extremely well received.

Fitzgerald had a number of famous jazz musicians and soloists as sidemen over her long career. The trumpeters Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie, the guitarist Herb Ellis, and the pianists Tommy Flanagan, Oscar Peterson, Lou Levy, Paul Smith, Jimmy Rowles, and Ellis Larkins all worked with Ella mostly in live, small group settings.

Possibly Fitzgerald's greatest unrealized collaboration (in terms of popular music) was a studio or live album with Frank Sinatra. The two appeared on the same stage only periodically over the years, in television specials in 1958 and 1959, and again on 1967's A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim, a show that also featured Antonio Carlos Jobim. Pianist Paul Smith has said, "Ella loved working with [Frank]. Sinatra gave her his dressing room on A Man and His Music and couldn't do enough for her." When asked, Norman Granz would cite "complex contractual reasons" for the fact that the two artists never recorded together.^[3] Fitzgerald's appearance with Sinatra and Count Basie in June 1974 for a series of concerts at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas was seen as an important incentive for Sinatra to return from his self-imposed retirement of the early 1970s. The shows were a great success, and September 1975 saw them gross $1,000,000 in two weeks on Broadway, in a triumvirate with the Count Basie Orchestra.

Awards, citations and honors[link]

Fitzgerald won thirteen Grammy awards, including one for Lifetime Achievement in 1967.

Other major awards and honors she received during her career were the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Medal of Honor Award, National Medal of Art, first Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award, named "Ella" in her honor, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement, UCLA Spring Sing.^[18] Across town at the University of Southern California, she received the coveted^{[citation needed]} USC "Magnum Opus" Award which hangs in the office of the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation.

Philanthropies[link]

Fitzgerald was a quiet but ardent supporter of many charities and non-profit organizations, including the American Heart Association and the City of Hope Medical Center. In 1993, she established the "Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation", which continues to fund programs that perpetuate Ella's ideals. The Foundation's mission and goals, as well as many of the organizations that receive support, can be found at the official Ella Fitzgerald Foundation website Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation. The Foundation also runs a Children's Book Program in memory of Miss Fitzgerald; called "A Book Just For Me!", it provides over 100,000 brand-new books each year to disadvantaged children.

Tributes and legacy[link]

Fitzgerald in 1960 by Erling Mandelmann.

In 1997, Newport News, Virginia created a music festival with Christopher Newport University to honor Ella Fitzgerald in her birth city. The Ella Fitzgerald Music Festival is designed to teach the region's youth of the musical legacy of Fitzgerald and jazz. Past performers at the week-long festival include: Diana Krall, Arturo Sandoval, Jean Carne, Phil Woods, Aretha Franklin, Freda Payne, Cassandra Wilson, Ethel Ennis, David Sanborn, Jane Monheit, Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ramsey Lewis, Patti Austin, and Ann Hampton Callaway

Callaway, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Patti Austin have all recorded albums in tribute to Fitzgerald. Callaway's album To Ella with Love (1996) features fourteen jazz standards made popular by Fitzgerald, and the album also features the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Bridgewater's album Dear Ella (1997) featured many musicians that were closely associated with Fitzgerald during her career, including the pianist Lou Levy, the trumpeter Benny Powell, and Fitzgerald's second husband, double bassist Ray Brown. Bridgewater's following album, Live at Yoshi's, was recorded live on April 25, 1998, what would have been Fitzgerald's 81st birthday.

Austin's album, For Ella (2002) features 11 songs most immediately associated with Fitzgerald, and a twelfth song, "Hearing Ella Sing" is Austin's tribute to Fitzgerald. The album was nominated for a Grammy. In 2007, We All Love Ella, was released, a tribute album recorded for the 90th anniversary of Fitzgerald's birth. It featured artists such as Michael Bublé, Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Diana Krall, k.d. lang, Queen Latifah, Ledisi, Dianne Reeves, Linda Ronstadt, and Lizz Wright, collating songs most readily associated with the "First Lady of Song". Folk singer Odetta's album To Ella (1998) is dedicated to Fitzgerald, but features no songs associated with her. Her accompanist Tommy Flanagan affectionately remembered Fitzgerald on his album Lady be Good ... For Ella (1994).

Fitzgerald is also referred to on the 1987 song "Ella, elle l'a" by French singer France Gall and the Belgian singer Kate Ryan, the 1976 Stevie Wonder hit "Sir Duke" from his album Songs in the Key of Life, and the song "I Love Being Here With You", written by Peggy Lee and Bill Schluger. Sinatra's 1986 recording of "Mack the Knife" from his album L.A. Is My Lady (1984) includes a homage to some of the song's previous performers, including 'Lady Ella' herself. She is also honored in the song "First Lady" by Canadian artist Nikki Yanofsky.

In 2008, the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center in Newport News named its brand new 276-seat theater the Ella Fitzgerald Theater. The theater is located several blocks away from her birthplace on Marshall Avenue. The Grand Opening performers (October 11 & 12, 2008) were Roberta Flack and Queen Esther Marrow.

USPS stamp and Yonkers statue[link]

There is a bronze sculpture of Fitzgerald in Yonkers,created by American artist Vinnie Bagwell, the city in which she grew up. It is located southeast of the main entrance to the Amtrak/Metro-North Railroad station. A bust of Fitzgerald is on the campus of Chapman College in Orange, California. On January 10, 2007, the United States Postal Service announced that Fitzgerald would be honored with her own 39-cent postage stamp. The stamp was released in April 2007 as part of the Postal Service's Black Heritage series.^[19]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Nicholson, Stuart. (1996) Ella Fitzgerald. Gollancz; ISBN 0-575-40032-3
• Gourse, Leslie. (1998) The Ella Fitzgerald Companion: Seven Decades of Commentary. Music Sales Ltd.; ISBN 0-02-864625-8
• Johnson, J. Wilfred. (2001) Ella Fitzgerald: A Complete Annotated Discography. McFarland & Co Inc.; ISBN 0-7864-0906-1

External links[link]

	Biography portal
	Music portal

	Book: Ella Fitzgerald
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ella Fitzgerald

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ella Fitzgerald

• Ella Fitzgerald at the Internet Movie Database
• Ella Fitzgerald at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ella Fitzgerald at Find a Grave
• Ella Fitzgerald Complete Discography
• Ella Fitzgerald: Twelve Essential Performances by Stuart Nicholson (Jazz.com).
• Ella Fitzgerald at the Library of Congress
• Ella Fitzgerald, The Official Ed Sullivan Show Website
• Redsugar's Ella page
• 'Remembering Ella' by Phillip D. Atteberry
• Todd's Ella Fitzgerald Lyrics Page
• Ella Swings Gently, The Ella Fitzgerald Pages
• Ella Fitzgerald Tribute CD Video Footage
• New York Times article on Ella's early years
• Listen to Big Band Serenade podcast, episode 6 Includes complete NBC remote broadcast of "Ella Fitzgerald & her Orchestra" from the Roseland Ballroom (or download)

June Christy
June Christy at the Club Troubador, New York, ca. 1947
Background information
Birth name	Shirley Luster
Also known as	Sharon Leslie, June Christy
Born	(1925-11-20)November 20, 1925 Springfield, Illinois
Origin	American
Died	June 21, 1990(1990-06-21) (aged 64) Sherman Oaks, California
Genres	Pop, jazz, cool jazz
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1938–1969, 1972, 1977-1980, 1983, 1985-1986, 1988
Labels	Capitol
Associated acts	Pete Rugolo The Stan Kenton Orchestra Boyd Raeburn Benny Strong

June Christy (November 20, 1925 – June 21, 1990), born Shirley Luster, was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a solo career from 1954 and is best known for her debut album Something Cool. After her death, she was hailed as "one of the finest and most neglected singers of her time."^[1]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Shirley Luster was born in Springfield, Illinois and moved with her family to Decatur, Illinois when she was three years old. She began to sing with the Decatur-based Bill Oetzel Orchestra at thirteen. While attending Decatur High School she appeared with Oetzel and his society band, the Ben Bradley Band, and Bill Madden's Band. After high school she moved to Chicago, changed her name to Sharon Leslie, and sang with a group led by Boyd Raeburn. Later she joined Benny Strong's band. In 1944, Strong's band moved to New York at the same time Christy was quarantined in Chicago with scarlet fever.

Work with Stan Kenton's Orchestra[link]

In 1945, after hearing that Anita O'Day had left Stan Kenton's Orchestra, she auditioned and was chosen for the role as a vocalist. During this time, she changed her name once again, becoming June Christy.

Her voice produced successful hits such as "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy," the million-selling "Tampico" in 1945, and "How High the Moon". "Tampico" was Kenton's biggest-selling record. When the Kenton Band temporarily disbanded in 1948, she sang in nightclubs for a short time, and reunited with the band two years later in 1950.^[2][3]

Solo career[link]

From 1947, she started to work on her own records, primarily with arranger and bandleader Pete Rugolo. In 1954, she released a 10" LP entitled Something Cool, recorded with Rugolo and his orchestra, a gathering of notable Los Angeles jazz musicians that included her husband, multi-instrumentalist Bob Cooper and alto saxophonist Bud Shank. Something Cool was re-released as a 12" LP in 1955 with additional selections, and then entirely rerecorded in stereo in 1960 with a somewhat different personnel. Christy would later say that the album was "the only thing I've recorded that I'm not unhappy with."^[4] Something Cool was also important in launching the vocal cool movement of the 1950s, and it hit the Top 20 Charts, as did her third album, The Misty Miss Christy.

Bob Cooper and June Christy, ca. 1947

In the 1950s and 1960s, Christy appeared on a number of television programs, including the short-lived CBS show Adventures in Jazz (1949), Eddie Condon's Floor Show (1949), The Alan Young Show (1950), The Jack Carter Show (1950), Penthouse Party (1951), The Jackie Gleason Show (1953), The Tonight Show (1955), The Nat King Cole Show (1957), Stars of Jazz (1958), The Steve Allen Show (1959), Playboy's Penthouse (1961), The Lively Ones (1963),^[5] The Mike Douglas Show (1965), Not Only But Also (1965) and The Joey Bishop Show (1967). She also appeared on the first sponsored jazz concert on television, The Timex All-Star Jazz Show I (December 30, 1957),^[6] which also featured Louis Armstrong, Carmen McRae, Duke Ellington and Gene Krupa.

Christy embarked on dozens of concert tours, playing in Europe, South Africa, Australia and Japan. She toured to such an extent that eventually it began taking a toll on her marriage. She began to pull back from touring in the early 1960s.^[7]

R.M. Cook and Brian Morton, writers of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings, appreciated the singer's body of work: "Christy's wholesome but particularly sensuous voice is less an improviser's vehicle than an instrument for long, controlled lines and the shading of a fine vibrato. Her greatest moments—the heartbreaking 'Something Cool' itself, 'Midnight Sun,' 'I Should Care'—are as close to creating definitive interpretations as any singer can come."^[7]

June Christy, ca. 1947

Personal life[link]

Christy was married to Bob Cooper. In 1954, she gave birth to a daughter, Shay Cooper.^[8] Christy's nephew claims that although she was agnostic, she was very well versed in religion and philosophy, identifying at least partially with Buddhism.^[9]

Later years and death[link]

Christy mostly retired from the music business in 1969,^[10] in part due to her battle with alcoholism.^[11][12]

In 1972, she sang at the Newport Jazz Festival in New York City, where she was reunited with the Kenton Orchestra. She also performed at a handful of jazz festivals during the late 1970s and 1980s, playing with a band of all-star west coast jazz musicians led by Shorty Rogers.^[8] Her final performance came in 1988 sharing the stage with Chet Baker. Christy returned to the recording studio in 1977 to record her final LP, Impromptu.

Christy died at her home in Sherman Oaks, California of kidney failure on June 21, 1990, at the age of 64.^[10][13] Her remains were cremated and scattered off the coast of Marina Del Rey.^[14]

Discography[link]

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: June Christy

External links[link]

Biography portal

• June Christy at AllMusic
• June Christy at IMDB
• June Christy at last.fm
• June Christy at NNDB
• June Christy at Find a Grave

Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer in April 2009
Born	Stephenie Morgan (1973-12-24) December 24, 1973 (age 38) Hartford, Connecticut
Occupation	Novelist, producer
Nationality	American
Genres	Vampire romance, young-adult fiction, science fiction
Notable work(s)	The Twilight series
Influences Orson Scott Card, Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, Maeve Binchy, Brontë sisters, Daphne du Maurier, L. M. Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, Eva Ibbotson, William Goldman, Janet Evanovich
Influenced Aprilynne Pike
Signature
www.stepheniemeyer.com

Stephenie Meyer (née Morgan;  /ˈmaɪ.ər/ MY-ər; born December 24, 1973) is an American children's author and producer, best known for her vampire romance series Twilight.^[1][2][3] The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies globally,^[1][4] with translations into 37 different languages.^[2][3] Meyer was the bestselling author of 2008 and 2009 in America, having sold over 29 million books in 2008,^[5][6] and 26.5 million books in 2009.^[7] Twilight was the best-selling book of the year.^[8]

Meyer was ranked #49 on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in 2008",^[9] and was included in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of the world's most powerful celebrities in 2009, entering at #26. Her annual earnings exceeded $50 million.^[10] In 2010, Forbes ranked her as the #59 most powerful celebrity with annual earnings of $40 million.^[11]

Early life[link]

Stephenie Meyer was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Stephen and Candy Morgan. She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, with five siblings: Seth, Emily, Jacob, Paul, and Heidi. She attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. She then attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she received a B.A. in English in 1997.^[12] Meyer met her husband Christiaan when she was 4 years old in Arizona, and married him in 1994 when they were both 21. Together they have three sons: Gabe, Seth, and Eli. Christiaan Meyer, formerly an auditor, has now retired to take care of the children.^[13]

Meyer is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; she has stated that she is strait-laced about her beliefs and does not drink alcohol or smoke.^[14] Meyer had never written even a short story before Twilight and had considered going to law school because she felt she had no chance of becoming a writer; she later noted that the birth of her oldest son Gabe changed her mind, saying, "Once I had Gabe, I just wanted to be his mom."^[14] Before becoming an author, Meyer's only professional work was as a receptionist in a property company.^[13] Meyer lives in Cave Creek, Arizona,^[15] and also owns a home on Marrowstone Island, Washington.^[16]

[edit] The Twilight series

[edit] Twilight

Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003.^[17] The dream was about a human girl and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood.^[17] Based on this dream, Meyer wrote the draft of what is now Chapter 13 of the book.^[18] In a matter of three months she had transformed her dream into a complete novel,^[1] though she claims that she never intended to publish Twilight and was writing for her own enjoyment.^[19] Her sister's response to the book was enthusiastic and she persuaded Meyer to send the manuscript to literary agencies.^[13]

Of the 15 letters she wrote, five went unanswered, nine brought rejections, and the last was a positive response from Jodi Reamer of Writers House.^[20] Eight publishers competed for the rights to publish Twilight in a 2003 auction.^[20] By November, Meyer had signed a $750,000 three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company.^[21] Twilight was published in 2005 with a print run of 75,000 copies.^[20] It reached #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Chapter Books within a month of its release,^[22] and later rose to #1.^[23] Foreign rights to the novel were sold to over 26 countries.^[24] The novel was named the Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and a New York Times Editor's Choice.^[25]

Subsequent novels[link]

Following the success of Twilight (2005), Meyer expanded the story into a series with three more books: New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008). In its first week after publication, New Moon reached #5 on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Chapter Books, and in its second week rose to the #1 position, where it remained for the next 11 weeks. In total, it spent over 50 weeks on the list.^[26] After the release of Eclipse, the first three "Twilight" books spent a combined 143 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list.^[1] The fourth installment of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, was released with an initial print run of 3.7 million copies.^[27] Over 1.3 million copies were sold on the first day.^[28] The novel won Meyer her first British Book Award, despite competition with J. K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard.^[29] The series has sold over 100 million copies worldwide^[4] in 37 languages.^[30] In 2008, the four books of the series claimed the top four spots on USA Today's year-end bestseller list, making Meyer the first author to ever achieve this feat as well as being the bestselling author of the year.^[5] The Twilight novels held the top four spots on USA Today's year-end list again in 2009.^[31]

Meyer, November 2008

In August 2009, USA Today revealed that Meyer broke J.K. Rowling's record on their bestseller list; the four Twilight books had spent 52 straight weeks in the top 10.^[32] The books have spent more than 143 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List. Upon the completion of the fourth entry in the series, Meyer indicated that Breaking Dawn would be the final novel to be told from Bella Swan's perspective.^[33] Midnight Sun was to be a companion novel to the series. It would be a retelling of the events of the novel Twilight, but from the perspective of Edward Cullen (as opposed to Bella Swan).^[34] Meyer had hoped to have Midnight Sun published some time shortly after the release of Breaking Dawn, but after an online leak of a rough draft of its first 12 chapters, Meyer chose to delay the project indefinitely.^[34][35] Meyer has decided to pursue non-Twilight related books as a result of the leak, she made the rough chapters of "Midnight Sun" available on her website.^[34]

Inspiration[link]

Meyer cites many novels as inspiration for the Twilight series, including Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.^[36] Each book in the series was also inspired specifically by a different literary classic: Twilight by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice; New Moon by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; Eclipse by Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights; and Breaking Dawn's theme by Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice^[37] and A Midsummer Night's Dream.^[38] Meyer said, "I've been reading books for adults my entire life. Growing up I was an avid reader—the thicker the book, the better."^[39] She also said she is a huge fan of Orson Scott Card, and "can't go through a year without re-reading" Jane Austen's books.^[39]

She also says that her writing is strongly influenced by music, and she posts playlists on her website of songs which specifically inspired her books. Bands included most often in her playlists are Muse, Blue October, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay and Linkin Park.^{[40][41][42][43]} As a Mormon, Meyer acknowledges that her faith has influenced her work. In particular, she says that her characters "tend to think more about where they came from, and where they are going, than might be typical."^[44] Meyer also steers her work from subjects such as sex, despite the romantic nature of the novels. Meyer says that she does not consciously intend her novels to be Mormon-influenced, or to promote the virtues of sexual abstinence and spiritual purity, but admits that her writing is shaped by her values, saying,

"I don't think my books are going to be really graphic or dark, because of who I am. There's always going to be a lot of light in my stories."^[45]

Film adaptations[link]

Summit Entertainment optioned Twilight in April 2007. Catherine Hardwicke directed the film and the screenplay was written by Melissa Rosenberg.^[46] It stars Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen and Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black.^[47] The movie was released on November 21, 2008.^[48] Meyer makes a brief cameo appearance in a diner scene.^[49] Following the success of Twilight, Summit greenlit a film adaptation of the sequel, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, in November 2008.^[50] Chris Weitz directed the film,^[51] which was released on November 20, 2009.^[52] Summit confirmed an adaptation of the third book in the series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, in February 2009.^[53] David Slade directed the film, which was released on June 30, 2010. Summit also obtained the rights to Breaking Dawn in November 2008,^[54] and approved a two-part adaptation in June 2010 that was scheduled to start production in late 2010.^[55] The first part was released on November 18, 2011, and the second part is scheduled for November 16, 2012.^[56]

Analysis[link]

Reception[link]

Meyer on her book tour for Eclipse in 2007.

Entertainment Weekly has stated that Meyer is "the world's most popular vampire novelist since Anne Rice",^[57] while The Guardian described her as an "imaginative storyteller, a prolific author and a newly powerful figure in the publishing market."^[58] Wayne Janes of Toronto Sun agreed, saying "Meyer's success points up another trend — the virtual domination of the best-seller lists the last few years by what would normally be classified as young adult fiction," and noted,

"In the absence of a new Harry Potter adventure, teens, fantasy enthusiasts and women (sales are mostly to females) who swoon at the idea of a virginal James Dean-ish vampire made Meyer the go-to gal for chaste love."^[59] Tymon Smith of The Times has described her as the "superstar of young adult fiction".^[60]

Meyer was named USA Today's "Author of the Year" in 2008,^[61] and one of MSN Lifestyle's "Most Influential Women of 2008" where she was described as a "literary luminary".^[62] She was also ranked #49 on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in 2008",^[9] and was included in their list of "People Who Mattered", with Lev Grossman noting, "Maybe Americans aren't ready for a Mormon presidential nominee yet. But they're more than ready to anoint a Mormon as the best-selling novelist of the year."^[63] Meyer was included in The Arizona Republic's "Valley's Most Fascinating People" in December 2008.^[64]

Novelist Orson Scott Card said, "[Stephenie Meyer] writes with luminous clarity, never standing between the reader and the dream they share. She's the real thing".^[65] Scott described Meyer as an "amazing phenomenon".^[66] In an interview with Newsweek, author Jodi Picoult said, "Stephenie Meyer has gotten people hooked on books, and that's good for all of us."^[67] Meyer was ranked #5 on Forbes' list of "Hollywood's Top-Earning Women", the only author on the list, and it was noted that the "Twilight series of young-adult vampire books have taken the publishing and film worlds by storm."^[68]

She was ranked #82 on Vanity Fair's list of the "Top 100 Information Age Powers" of 2009.^[69] Meyer was featured in an issue of the biographical comic Female Force, a Bluewater Productions title which celebrates influential women in society and pop culture.^[52] The comic has previously published biographies of women such as Oprah Winfrey and Princess Diana.^[52] In 2011 CEOWORLD Magazine ranked her among CEOWORLD magazine's Top Accomplished Women Entertainers.^[70] Meyer was the second bestselling author of the decade, according to a list published by Amazon, beaten by JK Rowling.^[71]

Fan following[link]

Meyer has gained a following among young adult readers of her Twilight novels, which are set in the small town of Forks on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Forks has thus received attention from fans, and celebrates "Stephenie Meyer Day" on September 13, the date of character Bella Swan's birthday.^[72] Fans express themselves in other ways: "[They] dress up like her characters. They write their own stories about them and post their tales on the Internet. When she appears at a bookstore, 3,000 people go to meet her. There are Twilight-themed rock bands."^[73]

Criticism[link]

Comparing Meyer to J. K. Rowling, Stephen King stated, "the real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer, and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She's not very good."^[74][75] King went on to say that

"people are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it's very clear that she's writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It's exciting and it's thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because it's not overtly sexual."

He further explains,

“A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like, the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet.”^[75]