The great Billie Holiday was born 100 years ago today. This requires spending some of your day listening to a greatest hits album, I hope. But here are five other ways you can celebrate this icon’s life this week:
1) Watch Diana Ross in Lady Sings The Blues. Sure it’s wildly inaccurate but it’s still a pretty great movie.
2) Listen to Cassandra Wilson‘s perform her new Billie Holiday tribute album Coming Forth By Day at the Apollo Theatre this Friday.
3) Just go to a jazz club. Any one. Keep the tradition that made Holiday’s career alive.
4) There are a ton of great articles today about Holiday but if you’re into your “listicles”, check out this 100 Facts about Billie Holiday’s Life and Legacy from USA Today.
5) Listen to the Bowery Boys podcast from this past January — Billie Holiday’s New York, available on iTunes, Stitcher, wherever you get podcasts or right here.
1 reply on “Happy 100th birthday Billie Holiday! Five ways to celebrate a century of music”
Thanks for this one guys, I ran across a piece on WBAI last night that discussed the war on Billie Holiday: War on Lady Day: http://www.openculture.com/2015/01/how-americas-first-drug-czar-waged-war-against-billie-holliday.html
I love your podcasts, keep up the great work! Btw, it’d be cool to do one on radio station WBAI –
– Nick