9/24/17 O&A NYC SUNDAY AFTERNOON JAZZ CONCERT: Dee Dee Sings Billie- North Sea Jazz Festival



Dee Dee Bridgewater performs three songs made famous by Jazz icon Billie Holiday live at North Sea Jazz Festival (July 10, 2010).  

Continue reading

8/7/17 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Billie Holiday her songs from the film New Orleans

Billie Holiday in the 1947 film New Orleans. This video contains Holiday’s songs only- Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans (two versions), Farewell To Storyville, and The Blues Are Brewin’. Continue reading

4/25/17 O&A NYC DANCE: Rosa Mae- Charmaine Hunter and Me

By Walter Rutledge

 

Charmaine Hunter, former Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) principal dancer, was in New York City this weekend for the New York season of DTH. We had a chance to talk and the conversation turned to the time we danced together with the Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theatre.  Continue reading

3/6/17 O&A NYC CELEBRATING WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH- SONG OF THE DAY: Billie Holiday – God Bless The Child


In her autobiography Lady Sings the Blues Billie Holiday indicated an argument with her mother over money led to the song.

She states that during the argument her mother said “God bless the child that’s got his own.” The anger over the incident led her to turn that line into a starting point for a song, which she worked out in conjunction with Herzog

Billie Holiday – God Bless The Child 

4/7/23 O&A NYC HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILLIE: Billie Holiday – Strange Fruit

Eleanora Fagan was born onApril 7, 1915 in Philadelphia. By 1929 she and her mother moved to Harlem and by age 17 Billie Holiday started he professional career as a jazz and swing music vocalist. Her friend and music partner, Lester Young nicknamed her Lady Day. In 1939 she sang and recorded Strange Fruit a civil rights protest song.  Continue reading

1/29/17 O&A NYC SUNDAY AFTERNOON JAZZ CONCERT: Jazz Divas- Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Dorothy Dandridge


final 1

Jazz Divas shares rare performances by Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Dorothy Dandridge.  Continue reading

2/17/16 O&A NYC BLACK HISTORY MONTH THROWBACK THURSDAY: Billie Holiday – Strange Fruit

throwback black history

BILLIE-HOLIDAY-1

Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit is the original Black Live Matters anthem. This is rare live footage of one of the first anti racism songs.  Continue reading

10/5/15 O&A NYC Hollywood Monday (Repost): Lady Sings The Blues (Big Ben) Plus Encore performance

Hollywood Mondays

BRITISHQUAD112-2.jpg1327064021

Lady Sings The Blues is the story of jazz singer Billie Holiday and is loosely based on her 1956 autobiography. The name of the film was taken from one of Holiday’s most popular songs.

Continue reading

6/20/15 O&A Its Saturday- Anything Does: The Billie Holiday Story

It is Saturday

BILLIE-HOLIDAY-1

Billie Holiday, jazz singer and songwriter, 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. Lester Young Holiday’s friend and musical partner nicknamed her Lady Day.  Continue reading

Hollywood Monday: Lady Sings The Blues (Big Ben) Plus Encore performance

Hollywood Mondays

Lady Sings the Blues is the story of jazz singer Billie Holiday and is loosely based on her 1956 autobiography. Holiday took its title from one of her most popular songs. Continue reading