Diabetes Late Nite Inspired by Ella Fitzgerald

Tonight, we’re celebrating National Diabetes Awareness month with music from our favorite jazz legend “divabetic”, Ella Fitzgerald. 

Ella Fitzgerald, also known as "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella", captured audiences everywhere with her astonishing vocal range, scat singing, and improvisational ability.

"I never knew how good our songs were," Ira Gershwin once said, "until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them."

Over the decades, Miss Fitzgerald performed with big bands, symphony orchestras and small jazz groups. Her repertory encompassed show tunes, jazz songs, novelties (l "A-Tisket A-Tasket,"), bossa nova, and even opera ("Porgy and Bess”).

From the early 1970's, Miss Fitzgerald began to have eyesight problems complicated by diabetes, and in 1986 she had heart surgery, but she returned to the concert stage the next year.

Unfortunately she had to have both legs amputated below the knee. Despite ill health, she continued to perform at least once month into the early 1990's. Although her quality of voice slowly deteriorated from the early 1970's, even at the end of her career, her singing retained a remarkable rhythmic acuity. 

Diabetes Late Nite guests include the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach (Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Susan Weiner MS, RDN, CDE, CDN) Poet Lorraine Brooks, Ansley Dalbo, Best-Selling Author Anna J. Stewart, Leola and Cornelia,and Mama Rose Marie. 

Throughout the podcast we will be playing songs from Columbia Jazz: Ella Fitzgerald’s Live album courtesy of SONY Music. 

Diabetes Late Nite is a fast-paced, full-filled hour of diabetes education and wellness advice that encourages listeners to “laugh a little, learn a lot.”