BECOMING ELLA FITZGERALD The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song

A great opportunity to explore the development of the iconic entertainer Ella Fitzgerald is thwarted here. While there's little new information, author Judith Tick succeeds in compiling an exhaustive compendium of facts. Sadly, Carmen Jewel Jones is not up to the task of delivering it. Her performance is peppered with mispronunciations, and nearly every foreign name or phrase is mangled. Pauses are often inappropriately placed, forcing the listener to restructure thoughts. While Jones is understandable in other respects, a narrator more familiar with jazz history would have been wise. Listeners who are not jazz aficionados may want to sample some of Fitzgerald's actual recordings. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2024]