To Ella is an album by American folk

American folk music

American folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...

 singer Odetta

Odetta

Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...

, released 1998 on Silverwolf Records. Recorded live at the Kerrville Folk Festival

Kerrville Folk Festival

The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The event has run on a yearly basis since 1972. In November 2008, the Kerrville Folk Festival and Kerrville Wine & Music Festival were acquired...

, it features traditional songs including "Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace

"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,...

" and a 27-minute "Ancestors Suite" containing several songs.

The album is dedicated to the memory of jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...

, who died in 1996 (but doesn't contain any Ella Fitzgerald songs).

The album was re-released twice in 2003, and, confusingly, the CDs had two different names: Odetta (also on Silverwolf Records) and American Folk Pioneer (American Legends).

Track listing

All songs Traditional unless otherwise noted.

1. "Black Woman" – 3:10
2. "The Fox
   The Fox (folk song)
   The Fox is a traditional folk song. It is also the subject of at least two picture books, The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night: an old song, illustrated by Peter Spier and Fox Went out on a Chilly Night, by Wendy Watson...
   
   " – 2:44
3. Suite: Ancestors: – 27:55
   1. "900 Miles"
   2. "Red Clay Country"
   3. "Another Man Done Gone" (Hall
      Vera Hall
      Adell Hall Ward, better known as Vera Hall was an American folk singer, born in Livingston, Alabama, United States. She is best known for her song "Trouble So Hard" .-Biography:...
      
      , Lomax
      Alan Lomax
      Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
      
      , Lomax
      John Lomax
      John Avery Lomax was an American teacher, a pioneering musicologist and folklorist who did much for the preservation of American folk songs...
      
      , Ruby Pickens Tartt)
   4. "No More Cane On The Brazos
      Brazos River
      The Brazos River, called the Rio de los Brazos de Dios by early Spanish explorers , is the longest river in Texas and the 11th longest river in the United States at from its source at the head of Blackwater Draw, Curry County, New Mexico to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico with a drainage...
      
      "
   5. "Pretty Horses"
   6. "Poor Wayfarin' Stranger
      The Wayfaring Stranger (song)
      "The Wayfaring Stranger" , Roud 3339, is a well-known American spiritual/folk song likely originating in the early 19th century about a plaintive soul on the journey through life. It became one of Burl Ives's signature songs, included on his 1944 album The Wayfaring Stranger...
      
      "
   7. "900 Miles (Reprise)"
   8. "Shenandoah
      Oh Shenandoah
      "Oh Shenandoah" is a traditional American folk song of uncertain origin, dating at least to the early 19th century...
      
      "
   9. "Can't Keep From Cryin'"
   10. "Trouble"
4. "Ol' Lady Sally" – 1:03
5. "Amazing Grace
   Amazing Grace
   "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,...
   
   " (Newton
   John Newton
   John Henry Newton was a British sailor and Anglican clergyman. Starting his career on the sea at a young age, he became involved with the slave trade for a few years. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a minister, hymn-writer, and later a prominent supporter of the abolition of...
   
   ) – 2:06

External links

• [ "To Ella" on Allmusic]
• [ "Odetta (Silverwolf)" on the AMG]
• [ "American Folk Music Pioneer" on the AMG]