(DEAL PARK, NJ) -- If jazz is the music of America, it’s no wonder that Ella Fitzgerald is the First Lady of Song! Music lovers are celebrating the 100th anniversary of her birth this spring. A visit to the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation’s website will the many celebrations happening this year in honor of the centennial: from Lincoln Center and the Chicago Symphony Center to The Hollywood Bowl and the Landestheater Salzburg. With Gabrielle Stravelli and a 17-piece swing band,  the party at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center (APAC) will be a hard one to beat. And everyone is invited.

Acclaimed New York jazz artist Gabrielle Stravelli (who grew up in Colts Neck, NJ) will be the girl singer on Sunday, May 28, 2017, in this two-hour tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, backed by some of the hottest horn players on the Jersey Shore plus Carl Topilow, the conductor of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, on clarinet, swinging some Benny Goodman-Ella Fitzgerald duets with Miss Stravelli.

Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th Birthday Concert at APAC will feature over a dozen arrangements by the great Nelson Riddle, made possible by the Nelson Riddle Estate. Riddle’s incomparable arrangements include such Ella classics as “I Won’t Dance,” “I Got Rhythm,” “Love Is Here to Stay” “Take the A Train,” and “’S Wonderful.” In addition to the songs of George and Ira Gershwin, Nelson Riddle also arranged songs by Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Duke Ellington, Jerome Kern, and many others.

Nelson Riddle’s daughter, Rosemary Acerra of Lakewood, fondly remembers the collaborations between Ella and her dad. “In speaking of Dad’s work with Ella, I can only say it was always special to him; he remarked on her wonderfully unconventional and instinctive style of singing. Regarding the huge Gershwin Songbook, he marveled at how easy working with her was, amazed that in completing the 59 selections over eight months, not a note was altered. He paid homage to her artistry” Acerra discovered Gabrielle Stravelli while she was singing with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra at Lincoln Center. She quickly became a fan. “Gabrielle has the gift of interpreting the Ella/Nelson Riddle charts in a superb way. I know Ella smiles down on her.”

Active on the music scene for over a half a century, Ella Fitzgerald was the world’s most popular and successful jazz singer. With over 40 million albums sold (and counting), Ella won 13 Grammy Awards and performed with many jazz luminaries, including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman.

Winner of the 2015 MAC Award for Best Female Vocalist and 2015 Bistro Award for Jazz Vocalist, Gabrielle Stravelli has received raves from the New York press, including The Village Voice (“a powerhouse of individual expression” ) and The New York Times, “a phenomenal voice … with an easygoing confidence and impeccable taste.” In fact Stephen Holden of the Times compared Miss Stravelli to the birthday girl herself: “Her clear, rounded timbre, reminiscent at times of Ella Fitzgerald’s, didn’t strain for effect. A formidable scat improviser, she held back enough so that I never felt that she was indulging in empty display….She swings playfully, without seeming to try.”

Miss Stravelli finds it a “delightful challenge” to pay homage to the greatest singer America has ever produced. “Ella is the gold standard for singers and she is the vocalist that I listened to most growing up. She literally has everything- a beautiful voice, perfect intonation, masterful phrasing and a superb sense of time. And, of course, on top of all that she scats better than anyone on the planet! Her ballad singing is gentle and lush and her uptempos swing like mad. I've been spending hours listening to her in preparation for this concert and I can't think of a better job in the world than listening to Ella Fitzgerald all day!”

Jazz icon and nine-time Grammy-nominated pianist and composer Fred Hersch says, “Gabrielle Stravelli...has the whole package: a fantastic instrument, great time, superb musicianship, perfect diction – and more importantly, she sings everything with a true depth of feeling...Singing in front of a fantastic and swinging band, Gabrielle proves … that she is one of the top vocalists on the music scene today.”

In addition to Carl Topilow on clarinet, the band includes his brother Dr. Art Topilow on piano, Patrick O’Leary on bass, Jordan Young on drums and first chairs Mike Lee (tenor sax), Bruce William (alto sax), Nathan Ecklund (trumpet) and Dion Tucker (trombone).

Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th Birthday Concert takes place on Sunday, May 28, 2017, at 3:00pm at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center (100 Grant Ave, Deal Park section of Ocean Township, NJ). Tickets range from $35 to $42. For online purchases, visit www.axelrodartscenter.com. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: 732-531-9106, ext. 14. The theater offers ample free onsite parking and is completely handicap accessible. Group discounts available for parties of ten or more. The concert is being sponsored by Heritage House/Sotheby’s International Realtors.

PHOTO: New York jazz artist Gabrielle Stravelli.  Photo by Shervin Lainez