A Song For Lady Day

Stanley Crouch asserts that half a century after her death - she died on July 17, 1959 - Billie Holiday's music remains a cornerstone of the American songbook. The moderate columnist for the New York Daily News writes: "Holiday was so special because she imbued her performances with a tenderness so charismatic that her example and her unbending musical presence forced instrumentalists to do their best at making up melodies or coming as close to crooners as whatever talent they had made possible. One could not be completely satisfied with a brass or reed instrument unless it took on qualities close to a voice elevated by artistry of the sort that only jazz could bring to its material. This was done by combining the highest level of improvisation, with the skill to fit a context and the absolutely essential ability to express oneself best by meeting the demands of the ensemble, adjusting breath by breath to where one is and what is going on as well as recognizing what to do with reality in motion. That is the supreme achievement of jazz because empathy and individual expression meld. In that sense, it is the most perfect artistic example of what e pluribus unum means. No one has ever been able to do that better than Billie Holiday could. Whatever the moment demanded, she was as ready and was recognized by her peers and her fans for that order of artistry."

Booker Rising response: Billie Holiday is definitely an American classic, a jazz classical icon. I have some of her songs on my iPod. My favorite Billie Holiday song is "Night And Day".