Take Frank Sinatra, who was born in December Louis Armstrong? Still loved by musicians, but mostly known in the general public for his treacly late-career anthem to optimism, "What a Wonderful World. Billie Holiday, though—she's got a claim. The artist, who would have turned this month, seems to endure, even beyond Clueless references , which is all the more impressive given that she died in , 56 years ago.
Since her death, Holiday has been the subject of a film, starring Diana Ross; a play, in which she was portrayed first by Ernestine Jackson and last year by Audra McDonald who won a Tony for the role ; and countless tribute albums, including two particularly strong new interpretations of Holiday's catalogue timed to her centennial.
What accounts for her longevity? For one thing, she's arguably the greatest jazz singer ever. She's certainly the most familiar. Even people who can't tell Ella Fitzgerald from Peggy Lee know that voice, so recognizable and so difficult to describe. And as John Szwed notes in a new book , her myth is also an essential part of her continued appeal. There's her birth to a teenaged, unmarried mother; her rape and work in prostitution before her 14th birthday; her many marriages and entanglements; and her death.
Most of all, there's her long battle with heroin , a struggle about which she was unusually open. For many listeners, one suspects, the personal life is inextricable from the professional. The pathos of Holiday's life seems to ooze out between the notes in her voice. Unfortunately, one of the ways she endures is the appropriation and misappropriation of her most famous song.
There was the public-relations firm that showed its utter lack of preparation for relating to the public by naming itself "Strange Fruit.
In a similarly controversial but more ambiguous example, Kanye West sampled Nina Simone's version of "Strange Fruit" and borrowed a lyric from it for "Blood on the Leaves," a track on Yeezus , which seems more like provocation than either tone-deafness or ignorance. Will she loose contact with the rhythm altogether? She never did, but the suspense never let up.
She would allow vowels to swell with purring suggestion till the audience might wonder if her words might pop like balloons. Within that bruised purr were hints of pain, giddiness, anger, infatuation, stoicism and defiance, enticing enough to invite speculation but mysterious enough to keep the listener guessing.
It was a brilliant, novel strategy, only made possible by the new microphone technology of the s. Because she sang slightly behind the beat in a confidential hum, she implied that she had secrets too painful to share.
And that made listeners lean in even closer to hear. This minimalist approach was a landmark change in American culture that influenced not only jazz singing but also jazz instrumentals, pop singing, theater and much more.
Frank Sinatra, for one, has always been forthright about the huge debt he owes to Holiday. For all the praise that Billie Holiday gets as a vocal stylist, she's seldom acknowledged as a musical genius. Hammond was instrumental in getting Holiday recording work with an up-and-coming clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman.
With Goodman, she sang vocals for several tracks, including her first commercial release "Your Mother's Son-In-Law" and the top 10 hit "Riffin' the Scotch. Known for her distinctive phrasing and expressive, sometimes melancholy voice, Holiday went on to record with jazz pianist Teddy Wilson and others in Around this time, Holiday met and befriended saxophonist Lester Young, who was part of Count Basie 's orchestra on and off for years.
He even lived with Holiday and her mother Sadie for a while. Young gave Holiday the nickname "Lady Day" in — the same year she joined Basie's band. In return, she called him "Prez," which was her way of saying that she thought it was the greatest. Holiday toured with the Count Basie Orchestra in The following year, she worked with Artie Shaw and his orchestra.
Holiday broke new ground with Shaw, becoming one of the first female African American vocalists to work with a white orchestra. Promoters, however, objected to Holiday — for her race and for her unique vocal style — and she ended up leaving the orchestra out of frustration. She developed some of her trademark stage persona there — wearing gardenias in her hair and singing with her head tilted back. Holiday recorded the song with the Commodore label instead. Holiday married James Monroe in Already known to drink, Holiday picked up her new husband's habit of smoking opium.
The marriage didn't last — they later divorced — but Holiday's problems with substance abuse continued. Holiday refused and kept singing the song. Anslinger was a widely known racist and made it his mission to take Holiday down for her drug and alcohol addiction and relentlessly pursued her all the way up until her death in That same year, Holiday had a hit with "God Bless the Child.
Her boyfriend at the time was trumpeter Joe Guy, and with him she started using heroin. After the death of her mother in October , Holiday began drinking more heavily and escalated her drug use to ease her grief. Despite her personal problems, Holiday remained a major star in the jazz world—and even in popular music as well.
She appeared with her idol Louis Armstrong in the film New Orleans , albeit playing the role of a maid. Unfortunately, Holiday's drug use caused her a great professional setback that same year. She was arrested and convicted for narcotics possession in Sentenced to one year and a day of jail time, Holiday went to a federal rehabilitation facility in Alderson, West Virginia.
Released the following year, Holiday faced new challenges.
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