Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), aka the First Lady of Song, was one of the greatest jazz scatters and vocalists, if not vocalist, that left her imprint behind. The late jazz pianist and composer Jimmy Rowles once said, “Music comes out of her [Ella Fitzgerald]. When she walks down the street, she leaves notes.” And that’s the truth, Ruth!

One of my favorite performances by Ella was from June 22, 1969, where she was joined by Ed Thigpen on drums, Frank de la Rosa on bass, and Tommy Flanagan on piano for a full scat improv of “One Note Samba.” Her techniques were, and still are, mesmerizing.

Watch Ella Fitzgerald’s “One Note Samba”performance below.

The super talented singer-songwriter Andy Allo performed her lead single, “People Pleaser,” from her second LP entitled Superconductor on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The songstress not only demonstrated her skills on the guitar, but brought the legendary saxophonist Maceo Parker and Trombone Shorty along to funk up the stage.

Can you imagine being in the same room with these performers during a jam session? Sheesh.

Watch Andy Allo’s “People Pleaser” performance below.

Sing it!

R&B crooner Luke James performed an a cappella rendition of his new The Runners-produced record entitled “IOU,” while walking across a roadblock late night in streets of New York City. Producer Danja, who produced Luke’s latest EP, Whispers in the Dark, chimed in by hand drumming a beat on the roadblock, eventually initiating a brief jam session. Grab your copy of the new track over at iTunes.

Watch Luke James’ rendition of “IOU” below.

Stream “IOU” below.

Soulstress Chrisette Michele reflected on her memories of the late great Whitney Houston with the folks at Billboard magazine. She payed homage to the timeless singer by performing a mellow, acoustic mashup of the 1987 jam, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” and the 1996, The Preacher’s Wife number, “I Believe In You and Me,” which was originally sung by the Four Tops.

Watch Chrisette Michele’s mashup rendition below.

Two nights ago, D’Angelo and ?uestlove shut down the Brooklyn Bowl at their two-man show, The Soulquarians: Brothers In Arms. The duo performed a number of tunes including a rendition of The S.O.S. Band’s 1983 classic, ”Tell Me If You Still Care,” and D’Angelo’s smooth joint, “Africa,” from his last LP entitled Voodoo. 

There is still no word on the tracklisting or release date of D’Angelo’s highly-anticipated third LP, James River. However, I’m hoping that it drops sometime this year. I’ve been patiently waiting for 13 years already!…but I digress.

Watch D’angelo’s and ?uestlove’s rendition of “Tell Me If You Still Care” below.

Watch D’angelo’s and ?uestlove’s rendition of “Africa” below.

East London singer-songwriter and tattooist Purple Ferdinand performed her sweet rendition of Little Dragon’s “No Love” for 1Xtra Live Lounge.

Check out her cover of “No Love” below.

Jessie Ware performed an intimate, acoustic rendition of Bobby Caldwell’s classic ’78 joint, “What You Won’t Do For Love,” at Louesa’s flower shop in San Francisco for the folks at Yours Truly. This record has been covered countless times and heavily sampled/interpolated in records from Aaliyah’s “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number” to Tupac’s ”Do For Love.” It’s great to see a fresh take on it.

Watch Jessie Ware’s rendition of “What You Won’t Do For Love” below.

Solange and Dev Hynes, a Brooklyn-based producer, singer, and musician, gave an acoustic rendition of her record “Bad Girls” in the latest installment of Black Cab Sessions. Her fluttering high notes are simply beautiful. If you haven’t gotten your copy of Solange’s 7-track EP entitled True, you can pick it up here.

Watch their acoustic rendition of “Bad Girls” below.