Live At The Apollo

I recently read this article by Giovanni Russonello about the great jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. What struck me was how despite losing both parents before she was a teenager, serving as a lookout at a brothel, and suffering abuse at a reformatory school Fitzgerald still stepped onto the stage in her arena of life. At 17, basically homeless, she auditioned for Amateur Night at the Apollo. She showed up to dance but decided last minute she might have a…