Ella Fitzgerald

1959 Dwight Eisenhower, on holiday from the White House, whips a golf club beneath a blue October sky. Frank Sinatra, driven indoors by a surprise December rainstorm, schmoozes with Peter Lawford and sings with Ella Fitzgerald. Meanwhile, other rich and famous folk are partying at the Chi Chi Club or pulling up their Cadillac coupes (nice tailfins!) in front of the Riviera, that vast new mod hotel. All over the Coachella Valley, architects and builders are seducing tourists with butterfly roof lines, space-age appliances, minimalist graphics and backlit starbursts.

Herb Ellis, a jazz guitarist perhaps best known for his work with the influential Oscar Peterson Trio, has died. He was 88. Ellis, who had Alzheimer's disease, died Sunday morning at his home in Los Angeles, said his son, Mitch. During his long and varied career, Ellis played with Jimmy Dorsey and Ella Fitzgerald. He also worked as a studio musician and played in the bands of several television shows, including Steve Allen's and Merv Griffin's. "There have been changes in jazz and new styles come along.

Re "Ella Fitzgerald, Jazz's First Lady of Song, Dies," June 16: Such a beautiful tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. It was 20 years ago and I was at one of her concerts in Holland. A young woman in the audience yelled up at the stage, "We love you, Ella." Ella yelled back, "I love you, too." ANDREW J. BYRNE Alhambra Growing up I was lucky enough to be exposed to the best singer, Ella Fitzgerald. My family knows when Ella is singing to quiet down and just listen to the magic. A few years ago I saw Miss Fitzgerald in a parking lot and, being one of her many fans, I thanked her for making my day just being able to see her. She in turn stopped and said, "Oh no, you have just made my day!"

Sir John Dankworth, the British jazz composer, saxophonist and bandleader and husband of jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, has died. He was 82. Dankworth died Saturday at a London hospital after a long illness, the Associated Press reported. Laine announced Dankworth's death before the finale of an anniversary concert at the Stables, the theater they founded together. Monica Ferguson, the theater's chief executive, said Sunday that Laine had told the artists before the concert, " 'I'll go on and I'll have a lump in my throat, and I might crack.

"Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song," an exhibition looking at the musical career and life of the legendary singer, opens at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., on March 19 for an indefinite run. Articles displayed include costumes, sound recordings, photographs and other memorabilia. The museum, at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. Admission is free. Information: (202) 357-2700.

Jazz great Ella Fitzgerald was treated for exhaustion at a hospital today after becoming ill in her hotel, according to the organizer of a festival she was to headline. Fitzgerald, 72, who was here for the North Sea Jazz Festival, was admitted to the Bronovo Hospital on Monday and was in good condition, Dr. Clifford Booker, a physician accompanying her, said.

Ella Fitzgerald, honored at a benefit concert for the American Heart Assn., had some surprises in store for herself--and for her audience. She was surprised when Quincy Jones and Oscar Peterson, who hadn't been announced as being part of the concert, showed up and took part. But the Monday night audience got the best surprise when, near the end of four hours, the 71-year-old Fitzgerald, who had been seated in Avery Fisher Hall, was escorted to the stage.

Jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald, hospitalized for treatment of diabetes complications, was resting comfortably Thursday, sitting up and talking to friends on the telephone, a spokesman said. Fitzgerald, 69, was in fair condition. She has been undergoing tests and treatment since checking into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in August, hospital spokesman Ron Wise said. She had experienced pain and swelling in her right foot due to diabetes, he said.

The family of "First Lady of Song" Ella Fitzgerald has announced that funeral services for her will be private. The family asked, however, that any memorial donations in Fitzgerald's name be made to the Society of Singers, 8242 W. 3rd St., Suite 250, Los Angeles 90043. The Society of Singers was established 10 years ago by Gini Mancini, widow of composer Henry Mancini, to aid needy professional singers.

Wilfred Middlebrooks, the double bassist whose elegant, understated sound was heard in the band that backed jazz great Ella Fitzgerald and in the Paul Smith Trio, died of heart failure March 13 at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. He was 74. Middlebrooks earned a reputation with musicians as an unflappable timekeeper, whose mastery of the instrument allowed him to be "heard as well as felt, but not obtrusively." "Wilfred's longevity with somebody of Ella's talent had a lot to do with his impeccable intonation, sensitivity and just sympathetic nature," said fellow bassist Richard Simon.

Jazz drummer Ed Thigpen, who often was described as "Mr. Taste" for his sensitive accompaniment of instrumentalists and singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell and Billy Taylor, died Wednesday at Hvidovre Hospital in Copenhagen. He was 79. Thigpen, who suffered from Parkinson's disease, was hospitalized before Christmas with heart and lung problems. His son, Michel, noted on Thigpen's website that his father "passed away very peacefully . . . in the company of his friends and family."

1959 Dwight Eisenhower, on holiday from the White House, whips a golf club beneath a blue October sky. Frank Sinatra, driven indoors by a surprise December rainstorm, schmoozes with Peter Lawford and sings with Ella Fitzgerald. Meanwhile, other rich and famous folk are partying at the Chi Chi Club or pulling up their Cadillac coupes (nice tailfins!) in front of the Riviera, that vast new mod hotel. All over the Coachella Valley, architects and builders are seducing tourists with butterfly roof lines, space-age appliances, minimalist graphics and backlit starbursts.

Good piece about Willie Nelson but a reminder: Ray Charles also had to have some guts in the '50s when he covered "Georgia on My Mind," which had been a big hit 25 years earlier for its composer Hoagy Carmichael, who was no slouch at singing, piano playing and songwriting. The song also had been recorded beautifully in 1931 by Mildred Bailey, including the song's interesting verse. Way too many folks have forgotten Bailey, who was a really solid jazz singer who exerted a tremendous influence on Ella Fitzgerald and also influenced Billie Holiday and Rosemary Clooney.

A diva despite her mild temperament, Ella Fitzgerald proudly wore the title of "first lady of song." Yet she seemed comfortable in the spotlight only when she could lose herself in music. Give her a microphone and she could fill a room with clarion sunshine, but her stage presence tended to subside with the orchestra. In "Ella," a musical biography that morphs into a concert in the second act, Tina Fabrique re-creates the peculiar mix of astonishing giftedness and personal diffidence that characterized this vocal legend.

After scoring four Grammy nominations, including one for best new artist, British soul upstart Adele downplayed her chance of winning, telling the British media that "I don't feel like I need awards." But she wasn't setting out to be this year's Grammy bad girl. Now, Adele has made it clear she'll be at the Feb. 8 Grammys ceremony in L.A. (In fact, beforehand, she'll appear at the Wiltern on Jan. 30, then hole up in Malibu to record her second album, which she says may have more of a country influence.

The great Anita O'Day, tough cookie and sublime jazz vocalist, receives a fitting tribute in this exuberant documentary, completed shortly before her death in 2006 at 87. Alive with improvisational energy and rejecting the conventional biographical format, the film pursues ideas and feelings rather than chronology as it scats through an archival wealth of interviews with O'Day and some of her most inspired performances. Friends and colleagues weigh in too and impresario George Wein, at whose Newport Jazz Festival O'Day delivered a transcendent and legendary performance.

Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, 67, was released Monday from George Washington University Hospital, where she was treated for a week for a respiratory problem.

Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald was out of bed and walking and may be released within a day from Niagara Falls Medical Center after suffering congestive heart failure, hospital officials said Tuesday. Fitzgerald, 68, was hospitalized Sunday when she became ill after a performance in nearby Lewiston.

Wilfred Middlebrooks, the double bassist whose elegant, understated sound was heard in the band that backed jazz great Ella Fitzgerald and in the Paul Smith Trio, died of heart failure March 13 at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. He was 74. Middlebrooks earned a reputation with musicians as an unflappable timekeeper, whose mastery of the instrument allowed him to be "heard as well as felt, but not obtrusively." "Wilfred's longevity with somebody of Ella's talent had a lot to do with his impeccable intonation, sensitivity and just sympathetic nature," said fellow bassist Richard Simon.