Billie Holiday was considered the “voice of jazz” of her generation and her style has remained poignant as she developed her own unique way of controlling phrasing and tempo. Her voice technique was never considered anywhere near perfect, but it was rather the way she conveyed emotions in her songs that truly moved people, as she made songs her own. As Holiday said, “I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That’s all I know.” She came from a background of intense
stage name Billie Holiday, was born in this difficult time period. Known not only for her revolutionizing jazz style of music, Holiday spoke out about sensitive subjects through her lyrics. Few people understood her message at first, but that was her goal. Her innovative phrasing and emotional intensity made her one of the most influential jazz lyricists of the 20th century, and helped change not only music but history as well. Born on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Holiday grew up
death on July 17, 1959, at age 44, Billie Holiday was one of the most important jazz vocalists and jazz musicians of all time (Clarke). Below her successes, there lied many tragedies. Holiday’s life was spent battling racism and sexism, as well as addictions to heroin and alcohol; in fact, during her peak popularity, Holiday was unable to travel away from New York due to racism (“Billie Holiday: About the Singer”). In her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, Holiday claims to have been mistreated by
Blues style. What is it about this musician that you like? Why? For my assignment, I have chosen Billie Holiday as my musician. I have chosen her because I find her music style admirable. I have watched and listened to one of her most famous songs, ‘Strange Fruit’ and I found that piece to be not only beautiful, but also raw. It comes to my knowledge that the song was in fact a poem, not written by Holiday but the way she converted the poetry into a musical piece and the way she performed it, it had
delivering messages or by simply entertaining masses. Billie Holiday Billie Holiday, a famous jazz singer, was born in Baltimore on April 7, 1915 (Margolick). In 1933, John Hammond, a producer, was fascinated by Holiday’s singing style after hearing her perform at a New York club. He managed to get Holiday to record a demo at Columbia Studios, which later led to her debut on November 1933 singing “Your Mother’s Son-In-Law.” (Margolick)
Most works of art is created by inspiration; our experiences in life or that little bit a self-genius that makes us create a work for the ages. In the case of these two poems, “My Arkansas” and “Strange fruit” by Maya Angelou and Abel Meeropol respectively, the authors had a triple effect on them. Both authors are geniuses; they were inspired by the events that occurred in the environment and time that they lived in and at the same time have loads of life experiences, which taught them a lot, and
Billie Holiday, a world sensational singer, has become a highlight to publicity and the ideal American star in our society. This artist is well known for her Jazz songs such as Strange Fruit, God Bless the Child, The Man I love, and Lover Man. She is extremely known for her voice of sensational feeling and her appearances in many other songs of other well-known artists such as; Duke Ellington, Teddy Wilson, Lester Young, and Joe Guy. Holiday is truly the artist of the Harlem Renaissance, yet this
Americans. Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, J. Cole, and Lil Wayne are just a few African American artists who have raised concern pertaining to issues faced by the African American population. The civil rights movement brought about numerous protests. Although various methods were used, music was undoubtedly one of the most captivating. Despite the black community being granted rights by the government African Americans during this time period faced segregation, inequality, violence,
what makes a song significant is if its message reverberates through the social consciousness and makes an impact on all who hear it. This is the impact of the elegiac blues song “Strange Fruit.” This song, written by a Jewish English professor named Abel Meeropol, but recognized as a staple of the blues singer Billie Holiday, can be called the protest song of the struggle black Americans underwent for basic rights and inclusion into society in the second half of the 19th century. It was the claxon that
Grace Notes. In it, is a specific poem called Canary, to which she dedicated to Michael S. Harper, a famous African American poet. In this poem, Dove profiles the great African American jazz singer Billie Holiday. The first stanza speaks specifically of, and directly names Billie Holiday, Billie Holiday’s burned