bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

Eleanora Fagan (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), professionally known as Billie Holiday, was an American jazz musician and singer-songwriter with a career spanning nearly thirty years. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills, which made up for her limited range and lack of formal music education. There were other jazz singers with equal talent, but Holiday had a voice that captured the attention of her audience.[2]

After a turbulent childhood, Holiday began singing in nightclubs in Harlem, where she was heard by the producer John Hammond, who commended her voice. She signed a recording contract with Brunswick Records in 1935. Collaborations with Teddy Wilson yielded the hit "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", which became a jazz standard. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Holiday had mainstream success on labels such as Columbia Records and Decca Records. By the late 1940s, however, she was beset with legal troubles and drug abuse. After a short prison sentence, she performed a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall, but her reputation deteriorated because of her drug and alcohol problems.

Though she was a successful concert performer throughout the 1950s with two further sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall, Holiday's bad health, coupled with a string of abusive relationships and ongoing drug and alcohol abuse, caused her voice to wither. Her final recordings were met with mixed reaction to her damaged voice but were mild commercial successes. Her final album, Lady in Satin, was released in 1958. Holiday died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1959. A posthumous album, Last Recording, was released following her death.

Much of Holiday's material has been rereleased since her death. She is considered a legendary performer with an ongoing influence on American music. She is the recipient of four Grammy awards, all of them posthumous awards for Best Historical Album. Holiday herself was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1973. Lady Sings the Blues, a film about her life, starring Diana Ross, was released in 1972. She is the primary character in the play and later film Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill; the role was originated by Reenie Upchurch in 1986, and played by Audra McDonald on Broadway (she received a Tony Award for her performance) and in the film.



Billie Holiday on Stars of Jazz (1956)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0aaZnxnkEo
Billie Holiday at the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival (Part One)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqBph1GwmQI
Billie Holiday & Louis Armstrong - The Blues Are Brewin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6RwSsHSIfs
Jazz Video - Billie Holiday & Louis Armstrong - Dixie Music Man (New Orleans '47)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlyrBPkkXvY
BILLIE HOLIDAY all of her songs from the film NEW ORLEANS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG7aoz0Rpdc
Billie Holiday - Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone - live 1959
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny9C6fTMy6Q
Billie Holiday - I Love You Porgy (Chelsea At Nine) 1959
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZxapd_LUaM
Billie Holiday - All of me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P0hG3sD0-E
Billie Holiday - Blue Moon (1952)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntDnwBiORu8
Billie Holiday - Come Rain Or Come Shine (1955)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygczl3nBrU8
Billie Holiday - When You're Smiling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC_XM4l1DHo
Billie Holiday - The Way You Look Tonight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De_xthmIUO8
Billie Holiday - Tenderly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSfb908m_d4
Georgia on my mind -- Billie Holiday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6wc41N-GYY
Billie Holiday - Stormy Weather
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxrQ-O4-J70
Billy Holiday, Lady Sings the Blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtqjW2uhBT4
Billie Holiday - I'll Never Be the Same
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK2htsFibII
I wished on the Moon --Billie Holiday 1935
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD7b1ts2fUg

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

My late mother loved Billie Holiday. I took her to see the 1972 movie starring Diana Ross. Diana Ross, a great singer herself, just didn't have that authentic Jazz voice to do her real justice. Anita Baker could have done much better. IMO. My mom introduced me to many of the Big Bands music of the 1940s. Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Goodman, Basie, Ellington, and Ella Fitzgerald. My mom said that Ethel Waters and Billie Holiday didn't particularly like each other. Rivals they were. Thanks for sharing. I'll be checking your links.

dancers Loc: melbourne.victoria, australia

the very best was our Billie.......................so much pain and suffering in her voice..........I read that she said : Some people say I am a whore, an addict and a thief......they are all correct"

Long live Billie..we are all sisters!

Leicaflex Loc: Cymru

Now this lady I like and your wonderful links have got the old grey cells moving.
Ashamedly, I had forgotten about her until your post.
Very much appreciated you reminding of her again.

DOOK Loc: Maclean, Australia

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

I once read something that gives a lot of insight into her vocal style. She said she wanted her voice to sound like Louis Armstrong's horn.

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

My pleasure. Glad you enjoyed it. I usually try to post something on jazz/blues a few times a week.

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

My pleasure.

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

Thanks Earl. Brings back memories.

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

Jazztrader

:) :) :)

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Thanks Brian. Unparalleled, sad life and soul. Lady Day.
Mark