Review: Ella Fitzgerald documentary shows how she became a musical icon and a showbiz chameleon

There are two things to know about Ella Fitzgerald, two things that director Leslie Woodhead’s fleet-footed documentary “Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things” spells out wonderfully:

 1) Ella Fitzgerald remains the pre-eminent singer of the 20th century.

 2) She worked very hard, and sacrificed much of herself and her personal life, to make that happen.

Woodhead follows Fitzgerald’s career from when she was a skinny-legged teen, nervously giving her first performance in front of an audience — on an amateur-night open-mic show at The Apollo, the legendary Harlem theater. They laughed at her shabby dress, but they thrilled to her voice.

So did the bandleader Chick Webb, who hired Ella as his singer. She was an instant star and landed on the hit parade, with her nursery-rhyme adaptation “A-Tisket A-Tasket.” When Webb died young, Fitzgerald’s name replaces his as the band leader.

But while Fitzgerald was becoming the queen of swing jazz, she started branching out. She started hanging out with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, and reinvented herself as a bebop jazz musician — using her voice as an improvisational instrument the way horn players and pianists did. In her scat solos, she could work in dozens of samples from other songs, all off the top of her head.

The third major phase of Fitzgerald’s career is when she became a global headliner. With guidance from her manager, Norman Granz, Fitzgerald recorded albums in which she reinterpreted the Great American Songbook — works by the Gershwins, Cole Porter and other great songwriters.

Woodhead assembles a wide range of interviewees — writers, biographers, former colleagues, and her adopted son, jazz musician Ray Brown Jr. — to reflect on Fitzgerald’s talent and impact. She also collects comments from generations of admiring musicians, including Johnny Mathis, Smokey Robinson, Patti Austin, Tony Bennett, Itzhak Perlman, Andre Previn (who died in 2019), Jamie Cullum and Laura Mvula. They tell us what we already know: That Fitzgerald’s talent and drive were one of a kind.

Thankfully, there’s a good amount to Fitzgerald’s own voice, both in interviews and her music, throughout Woodhead’s thorough documentary. There’s enough of that voice — the one Stevie Wonder praised in “Sir Duke” — to entertain and enthrall, and make us bookmark our favorite streaming service to hear more.

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‘Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things’

★★★

Available Friday, June 26, as a VOD rental on most platforms, and through virtual cinemas (including SLFS@Home). Not rated, but probably PG-13 for language and mature themes. Running time: 89 minutes.