Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

Today marks the birth anniversary of a swing & jazz icon. Ella Fitzgerald was born 104 years ago on April 25, 1917 in Virginia. Whether you refer to her as Lady Ella, The First Lady of Song or The Queen Of Jazz, you know she had one of the finest most beautiful voices in all of history.

She collaborated with many musical powerhouses including Chuck Webb, Nelson Riddle, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington & Louie Armstrong, who she grew up listening to. The songs she performed from The Great American Songbook became hers and hers alone. But regardless of what she sang, Ella Fitzgerald was absolute perfection.

“Lost my heart but what of it
He is cold I agree
He can laugh but I love it
Although the laugh’s on me“.

Ella Fitzgerald circa 1952. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Ella Fitzgerald: “Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered” (1956, written by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rogers).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.