Ella 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 vocalist 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. Over the course of her 59-year recording career, she sold 40 million copies of her 70-plus albums, won 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.
As Google honors Ella with her own Google Doodle today (pictured left), learn more about her life and music on Wikipedia.org. Also, it is truly worth watching all seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds of the video below as Al Jarreau and Nancy Wilson honor Ella with a spectacular version of one of her biggest hits, “A Tisket, A Tasket” at the 1988 NAACP Image Awards. Then, after 71 year-old Fitzgerald receives her award, she sings a dynamic, swinging, commanding version of “You Are The Sunshine of My Life” that is not to be missed:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AYin310AaI&w=420&h=315]
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Posts published by “goodblacknews”
Author, journalist, former Uptown Magazine editor and founder of SimplyRides.com, SékouWrites, has expanded his automotive-lifestyle business with the launch of BumperCandy.com, a multicultural women’s-interest website featuring beautiful cars and the lifestyle that comes with owning them. BumperCandy.com joins SimplyRides.com under the banner of Sékou’s newly created Dubbnet Networks, an assortment of automotive lifestyle websites tailored to audiences with unique interests.
“Ironically, my childhood career goal was to be a car designer,” says Sékou about his new-found path. “Later, when I was the Managing Editor of Uptown Magazine, I edited the car section to reach an audience of folks who are interested in cars but aren’t very interested in what’s under the hood. Once I started writing the car section myself, several women told me that they liked the way I covered automotive and I realized there was a niche for readers who care about the aesthetics and lifestyle associated with automobiles but don’t like to get bogged down by car jargon.”
NEW YORK, NY – Ed Gordon Media announced today the syndication of “Conversations with Ed Gordon,” a quarterly, one-hour special with award-winning journalist and renowned interviewer, Ed Gordon, serving as host and executive producer. The specials will be aired nationally, including on all ten NBC owned and operated affiliates. The first special begins airing April 28, 2013. Airdates, times and markets can be found on www.edgordon.net/conversations.htm.
Gordon, known for in-depth and exclusive interviews, will do it again with a stellar line-up of guests for the first special. Comedian Kevin Hart, one of today’s hottest entertainers, talks with Gordon on location in Los Angeles about his record-breaking concert tour and hit television show. Hart also confronts recent criticism surrounding a controversial “color” joke.
Kevin Hart on why he doesn’t address media/social network criticism:
“They want to make something out of nothing. So if you give ammunition, which is a reply, an excuse or a constant apology, you’re setting yourself up for more comments.”
On wanting to be on the list of the greatest comedians of all-time:
“As long as my name is in there, I don’t care if it’s dead last, as long as I am in there. That means people understood my work ethic and understood that I love to do what I am doing now…making people laugh and that’s it.”
Morgan Freeman will receive a special award in Canada next month for his efforts to combat racism.
The veteran actor, currently starring opposite Tom Cruise in “Oblivion,” will be given the Key of Knowledge Award in Toronto by Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
During the event, to be held May 6, Freeman will take part in a question-and-answer session moderated by Canadian filmmaker Paul Saltzman, who worked with the actor on “Prom Night” in Mississippi, a 2009 documentary about the first ever racially integrated prom in Charleston.
Proceeds from ticket sales will go towards establishing the Morgan Freeman Scholarship Fund for international students at the university, according to Canada’s National Post.
article via eurweb.com
A sequel is already in the works for the upcoming Ice Cube/Kevin Hart comedy “Ride Along,” which isn’t due in theaters until January.
As previously reported, the Tim Story-directed Universal project stars Cube as a tough cop who takes his sister’s future security guard husband (Kevin Hart) on a 24-hour ride-along which the cop hopes will scare the guy out of marrying his sister.
Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, who were among several scribes who worked on the original, are in preliminary discussions about scripting a sequel that could be put into production months after the first film opens, according to Deadline.com.
Of course, if the film bombs at the box office, it could stop the sequel in its tracks, but according to Deadline, Universal sees it as a high concept comedy made with solid elements at a price, ingredients ripe for sequels.
article via eurweb.com
As previously reported, the Tim Story-directed Universal project stars Cube as a tough cop who takes his sister’s future security guard husband (Kevin Hart) on a 24-hour ride-along which the cop hopes will scare the guy out of marrying his sister.
Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, who were among several scribes who worked on the original, are in preliminary discussions about scripting a sequel that could be put into production months after the first film opens, according to Deadline.com.
Of course, if the film bombs at the box office, it could stop the sequel in its tracks, but according to Deadline, Universal sees it as a high concept comedy made with solid elements at a price, ingredients ripe for sequels.
article via eurweb.com
Soledad O’Brien is going back to her alma mater. The former anchor of CNN’s now-cancelled morning show “Starting Point” was named a distinguished visiting fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, reports the Huffington Post.
Harvard said O’Brien would spend the 2013-2014 year delving into topics related to public education in America.
“On Appian Way, in the heart of the Ed School campus, a banner reads, ‘Education Is a Civil Right.’ I believe this passionately and look forward to ensuring that right is a reality by working with the students, faculty, and staff at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the rest of the Harvard University community,” O’Brien said. “This appointment is both honor and opportunity.”
O’Brien left CNN’s earlier this year, after network president Jeff Zucker announced his plans for a new program with co-hosts Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan. Although O’Brien left her daily hosting gig, she said she would continue to work with the network by producing documentaries independently with her own production company.
article via eurweb.com
Obama congratulates Anthony Halmon (left) and other students at White House Science Fair. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(The Root) — When President Obama announced the first-ever White House Science Fair back in 2009, he said, “If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you’re a young person and you’ve produced the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too.”
Nineteen-year-old Chicago native Anthony Halmon was among the 100 students from more than 40 states who received that recognition at a daylong celebration of the power and potential of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education at the fourth-annual event on Monday.
But in Halmon’s case, the fair also marked a celebration of what he calls his “transition” — from a life in Chicago that could have gone the way of the worst headlines about the plight of young black men in the city, to participation in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship program, to a handshake from the president and a full ride to Cornell University, where he’ll go in the fall.
Nineteen-year-old Chicago native Anthony Halmon was among the 100 students from more than 40 states who received that recognition at a daylong celebration of the power and potential of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education at the fourth-annual event on Monday.
But in Halmon’s case, the fair also marked a celebration of what he calls his “transition” — from a life in Chicago that could have gone the way of the worst headlines about the plight of young black men in the city, to participation in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship program, to a handshake from the president and a full ride to Cornell University, where he’ll go in the fall.
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will address Planned Parenthood’s annual gala on Thursday, the organization announced.
“President Obama has done more than any president in history for women’s health and rights,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said in a statement announcing that Obama will deliver the keynote address at the organization’s “Time For Care” dinner in Washington. “We are honored to have President Obama join us…at this pivotal moment for women’s health.”
Richards also served as a surrogate for Obama’s reelection campaign, touting the president’s record on women’s issues during the heat of the campaign. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer and HBO’s “Girls” creator Lena Dunham will be honored the event.
Planned Parenthood provides a variety of services for women, including contraception, cancer screenings and abortions. Obama reaffirmed just last week that he favors abortion rights.
“What I can say is this: You know, I think, President (Bill) Clinton said it pretty well when he said abortion should be safe, legal, and rare,” Obama said in an interview with NBC’s Today show.
article via newsone.com