Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald were friends and influential singers of the Swing Era. Each singer possessed a unique musical style that continues to be emulated by today’s jazz singers. Listen to Billie Holiday’s Back in Your Own Back Yard and Ella Fitzgerald’s Flying Home. [Back In Your Own Back Yard (Gridley, Chapter 5, Page 83: Jazz Classics for Concise Guide to Jazz CD 1 track 11; Flying Home: Chapter 5, Page 86: Jazz Classics for Concise Guide to Jazz CD 1 track 12]. Respond to each prompt. Then, offer commentary regarding the similarities and differences between the examples.
| Back In Your Own Back Yard (Billie Holiday) | Flying Home (Ella Fitzgerald) | Similarities and Differences | |
| Tempo (slow, medium, fast, dance-like?) | |||
| Swing feel (Do you sense a weak, medium, or strong rhythmic pulse? Which song has a stronger pulse?) | |||
| Syncopation (Is there evidence of syncopation or tugging and pulling against the musical pulse?) | |||
| Lyrics (What story, if any, is told by lyrics each artist sings?) | |||
| Voice quality (Use adjectives to describe the different timbre of each singer’s voice.) | |||
| Accompaniment (Which song uses a big band for accompaniment? A small group? What featured instruments do you hear?) | |||
| What elements of improvisation are evident in the musical accompaniment provided in each example? | |||
| Other (What else comes to mind as you listen to this music?) | |||
| Can you think of a modern artist or song that may have been influenced by each vocalist or each style? What similarities are apparent? |
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