Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald lived to sing - and not only because she sang so superlatively well. Only in the ecstatic excitement of performance could she leave behind a life that was often unhappy: the voice that transported generations of listeners took Ella herself to a place where she was in control.

This remarkable biography cuts through the legend of Ella to the reality, but it reaches the woman by setting the singer where she always wanted to be: on centre stage. The first biographer to place Ella's music firmly in the foreground, Stuart Nicholson ends up creating by far the fullest picture yet of one of the most enigmatic but unforgettable personalities in jazz.