Molly McGee Sings Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald is sometimes known as “The First Lady of Song” for her ability to take jazz standards and turn them into works of art. Emerging as a featured vocalist with the Chick Webb Orchestra at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, Fitzgerald would go on to become the most prolific singer of the jazz age, recording anthologies of tunes from the Great American Songbook with the great producer Norman Granz at Verve Records. Noted for her impeccable phrasing, original interpretations of melodies and instrument-like scatting capacity, Ella literally wrote the book when it comes to the art of the jazz singer.

To pay tribute to Fitzgerald’s legacy, club director Bill Martin has invited singer Molly McGee from Christchurch to perform five classic standards at Hanover Hall with the Dunedin Youth Jazz Orchestra on Saturday 18 May. Using original arrangements, McGee will perform the numbers “Blue Skies”, “Cheek to Cheek”, “Shiny…