Summary
Her 10th and latest CD might be her best yet. Another Grammy nominee, Blueprint of a Lady: Sketches of [Billie Holiday] (Concord) sounds like no other tribute to the matron saint of jazz singing. You'll recognize the songs - from the redemptive "God Bless the Child" to the eerie "Strange Fruit" - but the arrangements, fresh and funky to the bone, bear no resemblance to Holiday's own recordings. For those who would prefer to hear a contemporary Lady Day sound-alike, try Madeleine Peyroux. [Singer Nnenna Freelon], on the other hand, interprets Holiday's complicated muse-and emerges as absolutely her own woman.
That's right. Singers work at night. At 3 o'clock in the morning, you know, all the good guys are somewhere else. People always ask, "How come Billie hung but with such bad, abusive men?" Well, I've been there, out on the road. After the last set, who's left out there in the club? The answer is nobody...nobody but all the people your mother warned you about. The church-going guy with the white house and the picket fence ain't hangin'[laughs].Etta James told me a story about singing in front of Billie one night. Etta was young and probably a little nervous when she saw Billie sitting at the bar. Etta idolized Lady Day, and performed a tune that was a hit for Billie. In the middle of the song, Etta hears all kind of noise from the back of the club, a real ruckus, tables overturning and stuff. Billie had kicked up a fuss and left in a huff. Later that night, the two spoke, and Billie told Etta, "You've got a great voice, but take my advice and do your own thing. OK?"See the full content of this document
Extract
An Evening With...
Nnenna Freelon talks about Billie Holiday and going her own way.
Singer Nnenna Freelon stopped being the local-girl-makes-good a long time ago. Since her debut disc appeared on Columbia Records, her 14-year ascent to the top of the jazz mountain has been slow, steady and utterly predictable. Everyone she met upon her arrival in Durham in 1982 realized immediately that she was something spe...See the full content of this document
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