Ella Fitzgerald: Something to Live For (1999)

The neo-pop divas of the late 20th century may have turned up the glamour, and a few even introduced formidable technical prowess, epitomized by Mariah Carey's seemingly helium-induced falsetto (the bane of canine fans everywhere) or Celine Dion's breast-beating, stentorian climaxes. Yet only a few verses from an earlier, charter member of the first-name-only club provides instant perspective: when Ella opened her mouth, that perfectly pitched, luminous voice could leap octaves without breaking a sweat, its tonal purity and immaculate phrasing creating that illusion of "effortlessness" achieved only through true artistry. Writer-director Charlotte Zwerin performs similar sleight of hand with this beautifully composed documentary, originally produced for public television's American Masters series. Created nearly four years after Ella Fitzgerald's death, Zwerin's film uses the lush voice and superb repertoire of "the First Lady of Song" to provide continuity while assembling convincing, if composite, narrative quotes gleaned from various interviews. The latter are noteworthy given the singer's lifelong modesty and insistence on privacy. Archival footage of early performances, as well as later television appearances, capture Ella's pilgrimage from Depression-era New York, through her discovery at the Apollo Theater and subsequent emergence as a swing vocalist and on to her long career as a matchless pop and jazz stylist. Tony Bennett is a sympathetic narrator, while added affection and insight are provided through interviews with some of the myriad jazz titans that accompanied her. Yet, ultimately, it's Ella's music, generously featured throughout, that proves most eloquent. As one of her definitive Gershwin favorites put it, "'Swonderful."

Frank Sinatra - A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim (1967)

For the second of his 1960s television specials, Frank Sinatra organized the show around the loose theme of "rhythm," and chose for his exploration two artists of impeccable credentials: the scat stylings and jazz-influenced delivery of Ella Fitzgerald and the quiet Latin groove of Brazilian bossa nova legend Antonio Carlos Jobim. The program combines beautiful ballads ("Ol' Man River," "Put Your Dreams Away") with brassy up-tempo tunes ("Day In, Day Out," "Get Me to the Church on Time"), though one medley includes some forgivable but hardly memorable attempts at contemporary pop, mixing snatches of "How High the Moon" with "Up, Up and Away," "Don't Cry Joe" with "Ode to Billy Joe." The show slows for a relaxed medley with Jobim, who accompanies a lounging, cigarette-smoking Sinatra with guitar and whispering backing vocals while the Voice drops his volume to an intimate conversational tone for "Change Partners," "I Concentrate on You," and Jobim's own "The Girl from Ipanema." Ella duets with Sinatra on two medleys (contributing a fabulous scat rendition of "Stomping at the Savoy"), solos on "Body and Soul," "It's All Right with Me" and "Don't Be That Way," and finally the two burn up the program with one final duet, a high octane, show-stopping performance of "The Lady Is a Tramp," with Nelson Riddle's orchestra driving the brass to keep up

Yours for a Song: The Women of Tin Pan Alley

It's a little known fact that many popular music standards of the Tin Pan Alley era were written by women. But between 1920 and 1949, 178 women joined ASCAP, and Dorothy Fields, Kay Swift, Dana Suesse and Ann Ronell were among the most influential songwriters of the time. Their music was heard everywhere--from the vaudeville stages to Broadway, across the airwaves and at the movies. Yours for a Song pays tribute to the lives and work of these remarkable women. Features Betty Buckley, Michael Feinstein, Robert White, Nora Michaels and others performing their interpretations of classic songs written by the women of Tin Pan Alley. Also includes archival footage, motion picture clips and rarely-seen photographs from the "Golden Age of Songwriting" as well as performance clips of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Perry Como. Songs include: "Yours for a Song," "You Ougtha Be in Pictures," "If My Friends Could See Me Now," "The Way You Look Tonight," "A Fine Romance," "I'm in the Mood for Love," "Willow Weep for Me," "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?," "Fine and Dandy," "Can't We Be Friends?," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love."