Miss Ella Fitzgerald. I miss her.

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.

About Indifference

ELDER TALK


It is lost today how important it was for these individuals (Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, and other prominent Negroes) to be in the public eye, and why their behavior was, and had to be above reproach.

Prior to the assumptions of these times we tend to make about 20th century, Negroes had to be above reproach at every level of their lives to be above average, and successful in the white world. White people's general assumptions and convictions about Black people were carved into stone, and the preservation of our integrity, and race pride were profoundly important to us. In addition, being killed by white folks, and judged by low evaluation standards made daily life a strategic operation. The sophistication it took to work, and live in those times did not have the assumptions of present day belief structures today's youth seem to embrace.

Black and white kids today believe the lies, the misrepresentation of their histories, and undisciplined where they should be disciplined these young people tend to believe racial equality has occurred without work, or input on their part, or collectively. A deeply felt "Oh, shit!" moment is what they need to wake up from the slumber of their childhood, and what their childhoods failed to introduce them, and prepare them to become!

I can think of, and share a number of things, and expand their worlds in this medium, or in their presence, but I have learned the number of students is but a handful hard to attract. One need not cast pearls to swine. If there is hunger there is want. If there is need there is a seed. If there are seeds to plant the land will ask. If someone wants to die let them die.

These are my words.

Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
3/27/19

Nate King Cole and Maria Cole.

Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald at the top of their game!

During Jim Crow era...

Sidney Poitier with his first wife, Juanita Hardy, and their daughters.

Ruby Stevens in a publicity photo taken 

during her Broadway hoofer days.

Sophia Loren with mother during the premiere of "C'era Una Volta," 1967. 

TO YOUNGER CATS: listen!

I studied and listened to her singing deeply. Learning from masters of any craft is very personal, and I took the task seriously growing up while masters like Ella Fitzgerald, were still gigging and being interviewed. It deepened my performances, and honed my craft the way iron sharpens a blade. When a master is alive their new, and their old work vibrates differently. It is because there is always the chance you might meet them, and in the music world you never know who will invite you on stage. - Gregory E. Woods (percussionist) 10/31/18 

Je suis un Homme!

Barry White and Love Unlimited. 1970's.

I saw an interview where Barry White was interviewed. Asked how he could perform with an ex-wife and his current woman on the same stage Barry White looked at that pitiful white man with a sharp penetrating eye and said: "Because I am a man!"

The tone. The tone in his voice was one of a man, not a playa. He was a man in the deeper sense of the word, the concept, the ideal of what manhood required for the benefit of the women he loved. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 10/19/18 

A Look into their Lives...

Abbey Lincoln (1930-2010) jazz vocalist, composer, actress was influenced by Billie Holiday...She was fine, then elegant as she aged. The stage beyond elegance and old age she segued into with dignity, or so it appeared. Aging is work.

Billie Holiday's short life had brief moments this vulnerable and gentle.

Tammi Terrell, R&B singer who died early breaking Marvin Gaye's 

heart and his spirit for a long time. Her death was one of those dark moments that 

changed his already troubled soul into some of the best soul music of his time in the light of life! 

About This:

Debbie Allen, choreographer, actress and director of note.

"There will never be authentic women like these two women to teach Black girls to be ladies without Black ladies teaching them to be ladies. If this isn't a community concern be concern; no good thing comes from this indifference." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories [march 22, 2018]

Diana Ross without makeup is as captivating as light from Moon to Water...

Touches of Class.

Celine Dion's flawless way of being a lady, and feminine with inner strength,

as opposed to merely being 'strong'! - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 2/21/18

"Cassandra Wilson's elegance is in her sound, her movement and within."

- Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 

"Céline Dion seated in the proper way of a Lady. elegantly!"

- Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 

Yasmina Rossi

Diana Ross, singer and focus of love and adoration...

Tribute: thoughts about a Queen of ours!

Queen Latifah has always been too fine for words. Her work ethic defines the perception we all have of her as a jazz singer, an A-list actress, and pioneer rapper. Above all, she is a family oriented woman centered on her own." ~ Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 11/13/17 

a Tremendous talent.

Lori Williams by Roy Cox at 51 years of age. January 22, 2018.

Lori Williams by Tommie Adams Jr. said, 'Words are powerful... speak wisely.'

Life Accomplishment: excellence.

Morning meditation: 

Pray in every situation. Know your worth. Don’t let the past harm your future. Stop comparing yourself to others. Trust your inner voice. Everything doesn’t need to be said. Love and forgive yourself first. Life is short. Strive to achieve your goals. Know your limits. Inspire. Believe. Words are powerful. Speak wisely. 

Lori Williams 11/5/17 

Lori Williams, jazz singer.

"The maturation of spirit, the development of mind and talent, and how beauty matures in playful ways has always been a source of wonder for those who appreciate how such things work in their own lives!

This is what I see looking at this photograph!" - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 12/1217

Letter about jazz singer, Lori Williams from President of City Sketches, Inc.

Lori Williams performing at Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club. Tony Lewis in the back.

Respect for her life.

Born Annie Wilson Lillian Evans in Washington, D.C on this day August 12, 1890, departed physical form December 6, 1967, Soprano Lillian Evanti.

"[Evanti] was the first African American to perform with a major European opera company, but she also maintained deep ties to her native Washington. She graduated from Howard University in 1907, and thirteen years later, moved to Europe, where her professional opportunities were not as limited by discrimination. She made her professional debut in Nice, France in 1924, and while abroad, adopted the stage name Evanti, a more European-sounding combination of her last name and that of her husband, Roy Tibbs.

Evanti returned to Washington periodically and performed on Lafayette Square several times in the 1920s and 1930s, at both the Belasco Theater, one of the few venues in Washington where African Americans could perform before a desegregated audience, and the Roosevelt White House. In 1926, she sang at the Belasco with Marian Anderson as a part of the festivities surrounding the football game between Howard University and Lincoln University..."

https://www.whitehousehistory.org/lillian-evanti

First Negro woman to perform with a major European opera company,

Annie Wilson Lillian Evans of Washington DC.

fear in Marketing: a history lesson

On this day Nov. 5, 1956 The Nat King Cole Show debuted on NBC.

[[ Nat King Cole, the internationally celebrated singer and pianist... was the first African-American man to have a television show. It started as a 15-minute program on NBC and expanded to a half-hour in July 1957.

The show was seen as controversial for giving such national exposure to an African-American artist. Many of Cole’s fellow artists, from Ella Fitzgerald and Eartha Kitt to Mel Torme and Peggy Lee, performed for union scale or even for no pay, in order to help the show to save money.

Nonetheless, the Nat King Cole Show was forever hampered by a lack of national sponsorship... The show continued until Dec. 17, 1959… [Cole] once spoke about the lack of sponsors of his show by saying, “Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.” ]]

Nate King Cole singing with his daughters.

Her Birth Day: a Star

Melba Moore, actress and singer was born October 29, 1945 in New York.

Four Ways Beauty Is.

Qatar woman's breathtaking beauty!

Chaka Khan at the 2015 We are Family Foundation Celebration Gala at the Hammerstein Ballroom on April 23, 2015 in New York City..

Erykah Badu in June 2013

elegant woman by Patina Edochié 

RIGHT ACTION vs. fear.

https://www.pinterest.com/ 

Marian Anderson, opera singer (1897-1993)

Marian Anderson, renowned opera singer, whose life, and presence upon this earth changed millions of perceptions of her and her race by the sounds she made singing and speaking up and out during a troubled time of suppression for Black people during Jim Crow's reign of terror. In the midst of that she made her voice speak observing, and declaring: "There are many persons ready to do what is right because in their hearts they know it is right. But they hesitate, waiting for the other fellow to make the first move - and he, in turn, waits for you."

The sad and annoying thing is most influences for the empowerment of a people fall hard upon open ears not ready for the process starting from internalizing the words of power to manifesting the meaning of those words from within as a life-force. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 10.6.16

White American's Idea of Freedom!

Eartha Kitt spoke her negative views on the war in Vietnam at a White House luncheon,

she was effectively blacklisted and didn't work in the States for fully a decade. Race did and does matter. It didn't matter the contributions she made to the country, or that she was a mother. Eartha Kitt spoke the truth contrary to how white people felt about a people they held in contempt. This spirit is the American spirit! - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 6/8/17

Eartha Kitt in thought.

She Tells Our Story

Mary J. Blige, cool elegance.

Carmen de Lavallade, dance legend, in this photo appeared in the October 1964 issue

of Harper's Bazaar wearing a Coppola e Toppa necklace.

Ella Fitzgerald: recollections during Jim Crow

Ella Fitzgerald recording in a studio.

When she began to put on weight her sensuality increased embodying something men wanted to hold, become a part of, as she got deep into the lyrics and swelled within the songs like a lady. Jazz and sensuality moved women and shaped them. It was very different the things ladies of the darker hue, from Ella Fitzgerald's era, conjured. Not wanting to say words that will separate and make younger singers defensive, suffice it to say, jazz pulls out what the times require. - Gregory E. Woods, percussionist 4/25/17

Ella Fitzgerald deep in song.

"There is a resemblance between Ella Fitzgerald and Mahalia Jackson in their spirit and deep approach from within towards deep translation, reflection and knowing about song in relation to condition of the soul!" - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 4.25.17

Ella Fitzgerald onstage during the 1960's, maybe.

"I can hear my father making a bit deal about the sound and size of her voice back then!! We had a lot of voices developed to high level back then, and enjoyed live television. It was a natural format for TV because the previous generation grew up on live entertainment. It means a lot being exposed to musicians and singers constantly developing before live audiences beyond expectations. The tempo of the bands fluctuated and not every note was perfect. It kept the sound fresh and organic free of the pretense of machines today's audiences are used to. Why this is an important footnote is obvious to one mindset, another? Well." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 4.25.17

Ella Fitzgerald adored by Dizzy Gillepsie (r.) and support by top ranked bassist, Ray Brown and other musicians I can't right remember right now.

That's Dizzy Gillespie and Ray Brown in the background! God, that must've been a helluva sound. This has to be in the 1940's. One had to be unbelievably sharp to be onstage with the likes of these musicians. I often ponder the internal strength it took to be a Colored artist in those day. I have wondered . . . "Could any of today's Colored musicians have developed the what for to survive and live through Jim Crow under those circumstances?" - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 4.25.17

Alive in the world & Active !!

Nadia Aboulhosn at home.

Nicki Minaj bold at the Grammys.

Nicki Minaj composed !!!!

Nadia Aboulhosn, fashion blogger, model and babe in short black dress explains a lot of things to the senses.