"In the autumn chill of New York City circa 1948, Ella Fitzgerald and her second husband, jazz bassist Ray Brown, were photographed side by side outside the Café Society Uptown, a progressive club that had hosted Billie Holiday’s debut of ‘Strange Fruit’ nearly a decade prior. Married just the year before, Ella and Ray had become a formidable musical duo, their union brokered by none other than Dizzy Gillespie during a tour in 1946. Living in Harlem near Sugar Hill, they balanced rising fame wit

Ella Fitzgerald with her husband Ray Brown. Photo was taken in 1949. | Old Black Hollywood