Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed Lady Day by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Critic John Bush wrote that Holiday changed the art of American pop vocals forever. She co-wrote only a few songs, but several of them have become jazz standards, notably God Bless the Child, Dont Explain, Fine and Mellow, and Lady Sings the Blues. She also became famous for singing Easy Living, Good Morning Heartache, and Strange Fruit, a protest song which became one of her standards and was made famous with her 1939 recording. Music critic Robert Christgau called her uncoverable, possibly the greatest singer of the century youtube/watch?v=zDlKb2cBAqU
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 02:48:16 +0000
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