WKCR is excited to announce a special 24-hour broadcast for April 25th celebrating the 106th anniversary of the birth of Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996).

One of the greatest singers of the 20th century, Ella Fitzgerald's performing career began in November 1934 with a winning performance at one of the Apollo Theater's famous Amateur Nights and went on to span nearly sixty years, featuring notable associations with leading musicians such as Chick Webb, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie. Fitzgerald also performed and recorded extensively as a leader, including her famous survey of the "Great American Songbook" across her eight Song Book albums for Verve from 1956-1964 and the numerous albums she recorded for Norman Granz' Pablo label during the 70s and 80s with musicians such as Joe Pass, Tommy Flanagan, and Oscar Peterson. In addition to her superlative musicianship, Fitzgerald was also a noted civil rights activist who constantly combated racial discrimination throughout her life and career, and her contributions to American society were marked by her reception of the National Medal of the Arts in 1987 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992.