Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), was an American jazz musician and singer-songwriter with a career spanning nearly thirty years. She was nicknamed “Lady Day” by her friend and music partner Lester Young.  Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo, which had a great influence on jazz music and pop singing.

Holiday began her career singing in nightclubs around Harlem.  She was heard and commended by producer John Hammond, who was also responsible for sparking or furthering the musical careers of people including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, and Leonard Cohen.  Holiday was signed to Brunswick Records in 1935. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Holiday had success with labels such as Columbia Records and Decca Records. By the late 1940s, however, Holiday was beset with legal troubles and drug abuse. After a short prison sentence, she performed a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. However, due to her drug and alcohol problems, her reputation deteriorated.

Though she was a successful concert performer throughout the 1950s with two further sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall, Holiday’s bad health, coupled with a string of abusive relationships and ongoing drug and alcohol abuse, caused her voice to deteriorate. Her final recordings were met with mixed reaction to her damaged voice, but were mild commercial successes. Her final album, “Lady in Satin” was released in 1958. Holiday died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1959. A posthumous album, “Last Recording”, was released following her death.

Backing Tracks

Ain’t Nobody’s Business

All Of Me

 All The Way

 Come Rain Or Come Shine

 Crazy He Calls Me

 Don’t Explain

 Embraceable You

 Gloomy Sunday

 God Bless The Child

 Good Morning Heartache

He’s Funny That Way

 I Am A Fool To Want You

I Hear Music

I Only Have Eyes For You

 It Might As Well Be Spring

 Just Friends

 Misty

 Moonlight In Vermont

 My Man

Night And Day

 Orange Coloured Sky

 Stormy Blues

 Them There Eyes

 The Very Thought Of You

Tweedledee

 Until The Real Thing Comes Along

What A Difference A Day Makes

 You’ve Changed