ELLA FITZGERALD
A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

Emmy winner and best selling author, Geoffrey Mark, is releasing his new book about the Legendary Ella Fitzgerald, with full support of the Fitzgerlad estate and foundation, is about to hit stores in February, just in time for Black History and Womens History Months (Februrary & March).

Developed with material from the archives of her estate, this Centennial Birthday Edition is illustrated with 275 photos of Ella, with artifacts from her life and internationally acclaimed career.

In addition to the regular book, there will be a Delux Edition with an exclusive 2 CD set, in which proceeds with benefit The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation.

Best selling author, Emmy Award winner and Grammy nominee, Geoffrey Mark, has diligently put together the ultimate ELLA biography, this tome not only covers her entire career with many never-before seen photos, interviews, and anecdotes, but delivers for the first time the true, untold story of Ella - the woman. ELLA reveals the unknown side of the famous vocalist, including ...

  • Survived sexual and physical abuse, including torture, before she was fifteen
  • Before being discovered, lived on the streets of Harlem, working as a numbers-runner and a lookout for prostitutes
  • First African-American woman of the Big Band era to lead her own Big Band
  • The most recorded (non-classical) woman in history
  • The woman with the largest catalogue of CDs released in history
  • The first person to win two Grammy Awards in one year
  • Her support of the Civil Rights Movement, both her time and money to helping Dr. Martin Luther King
  • Most honored female singer in history, with Grammy Awards, doctorates, and medals from many governments
  • Appearances on TV shows of Ed Sullivan, Carol Burnett, Dean Martin, Dinah Shore and many others
  • Her encounters and relationships with Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, The Manhattan Transfer, Karen Carpenter, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah Shore and many other icons of show business
  • Ella's travels all over the world, so there is something locally interesting to people in London, Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Toronto, Tokyo, Rome, Nice, Paris, Juan-Les-Pins, Brussels, Stockholm, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Montreux, Amsterdam and many other exotic cities

The author is not only an award-winning author but interacted with Ella's inner circle towards the end of her life, performing her songs with their original arrangements and telling insider stories at every venue

“ELLA: A Biography of the Legendary Ella Fitzgerald”
Definitive New Biography to be released with CDs for Ella's Centennial Year

Ultimate Symbol today announced the publication in February, 2018 of “ELLA: A Biography of the Legendary Ella Fitzgerald,” by Geoffrey Mark. This Centennial Birthday Edition is illustrated with 275 photos of Ella, with artifacts from her life and internationally acclaimed career. Developed with material from the archives of her estate, ELLA reveals the unknown side of the famous vocalist. This tome not only covers her entire career with many never-before seen photos, interviews, and anecdotes, but delivers for the first time the true, untold story of Ella - the woman.

A “Deluxe Edition” will also be available that includes an exclusive 2-CD set of forty studio and live tracks. These tracks were carefully selected by Ella expert/author Mark from all four of her major recording labels, gathering for the first time ever in one collection the best of her work from 1935 through 1990, and programmed as she would have sung them in live performance. This collection is exclusive to the book and cannot be purchased elsewhere.

Ella Jane Fitzgerald became an internationally celebrated cultural force who has been called the greatest female singer in history. ELLA chronicles the ultimate rags-to-riches embodiment of the American dream, whose personal life was one of the best-kept secrets in show business. In her lifetime, the “The First Lady of Song” sold over 40 million albums, wrote hit songs, devoted herself to philanthropy, and amassed countless awards and commendations, including 13 Grammys, honorary doctorates from Harvard and Yale, the National Medal of Arts, France's Commander of  Arts and Letters, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Miss Fitzgerald is known in every part of the world as “Queen of Jazz,” “First Lady of Song,”  “Mama Jazz,” and “The Memorex Lady.” Her bittersweet life juxtaposes the tragedy of a homeless orphan who faced poverty, racial prejudice, sexual and physical abuse, with a talent and a burning ambition that led to an astonishing musical career spanning seven decades. She was an African American woman who fought racism and sexism in an industry completely dominated by white males. Despite her challenges, Ella Fitzgerald topped them all, enjoying a career and a musical legacy rivaling or surpassing those of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Michael Jackson.

WHAT CRITICS ARE SAYING:

“Finally, Ella Fitzgerald has gotten the biography that she deserves. In Geoffrey Mark's empathetic but clear-eyed portrait, both the vocal legend and the woman are brought vividly, insightfully and movingly to life.”  - James Gavin, award-winning author of 'Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker' and 'Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne'

“Nobody has ever captured the amazing life and exemplary career of the Premiere Chanteuse as well as Mr. Mark has in this book. This is the authoritative compendium that will remain the last word on Ella Fitzgerald!”  - Randy West, jazz radio host & legendary TV announcer

“This'only in America' story is told with accuracy and great regard by Mr. Mark. His research and writing style make this the definitive tome on The First Lady of Song! This book would have made Ella proud.”  - Don Wardell, Grammy Award-winner and Great American Songbook radio host at 107.3 MOD FM, Palm Springs, CA

Author Geoffrey Mark, an Emmy Award winner and Grammy Award nominee, has been called a “walking encyclopedia of show business history.” A singer/stand-up comedian in nightclubs and cabarets, and an Off-Broadway veteran, Mark has hosted radio series, written comedy for several stand-up comedians, and writes and produces documentaries and reality shows for cable television.  Mark has three best-selling books, including The Lucy Book and is the producer of Nigel: Come Back to Me, a CD with a seventeen piece Big Band.

Proceeds from the Deluxe Edition will be donated to The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation to further her desire to help people of all races, cultures and beliefs. Ella hoped to make their lives more rewarding, and she wanted to foster a love of reading, as well as a love of music, through grants and scholarships that provide music education and to provide exposure to the joys and beauty of music for children and adults. For more about the EFCF or to donate, visit: www.ellafitzgerald.com

For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/TheEllaBook/ or https://ultimatesymbol.com/Ella