My Meeting with Ella Fitzgerald at Ravinia Festival in the Summer of 1966
by Barbara Brabec
IN MY MEMOIR about my unusual life with a drummer named Harry, I’ve related many behind-the-scenes and backstage stories that have never been published anywhere else before. This was easy to do, first because life with Harry was unique, and interesting things always seemed to happen when I was tagging along with him to this or that rehearsal, concert, or show; and, second, because I had the foresight to capture the details of these special musical moments in writing as soon as they happened. Memory alone could never have produced the detailed music history now documented in The Drummer Drives!
I met many well-known musicians and famous entertainers during my years with Harry — so many, in fact, that I couldn’t have remembered all of them without my journals and letters as reminders. But I never forgot my brief meeting with Ella Fitzgerald because she was such a presence — such a magnificent singer — and an entertainer Harry said was “a real sweetheart to work with.”
I met her in the summer of 1966 when she was appearing with the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia Festival. Harry was Assistant Stage Librarian at the time, so he was always backstage talking to the performers. He wanted me to meet her, so on the day I went to hear the concert, he took me backstage when she was on a rehearsal break so I could say hello and get her autograph on my program.
It was hot, and she looked tired and sweaty. She had her bare feet up on a chair and didn’t move a muscle when Harry brought me into the room. She was just as down-home as you could get. Of course by now Harry had charmed her sox off, along with her shoes.
“Hi, honey, how are ya?” she said when Harry introduced me. I don’t remember what I said to her, but she was happy to give me her autograph, and I’m sure I must have said what an honor it was to meet her, and then Harry ushered me out of the room after a few minutes so she could rest. But I could see that she liked Harry by the way she smiled when she spoke to him. He did have a way with people.
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Adapted from The Drummer Drives! Everybody Else Rides, by Barbara Brabec.
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