Ella 100: Helga Davis and Carl Hancock Rux Talk Ella Fitzgerald

When the writer and performer Carl Hancock Rux was growing up in Harlem, his parents would regale him with stories of the early days uptown, including anecdotes about the First Lady of Song.

When Ella Fitzgerald moved to Harlem at age 15, she was just another neighborhood girl singing on the streets. As the story goes, her life changed after a performance at Amateur Night at the Apollo, where she dazzled the largest audience she'd ever performed for.

Rux recounts the story of her ascendance through the eyes of his parents and shares some of his favorite recordings of Ella including her appearance in the Elvis and Costello film, Ride 'Em Cowboy.