Monday, 1/4/10

by musicclipoftheday

You can talk about her exquisite phrasing: the way she hovers around the beat. But that sort of musical shoptalk barely scratches the surface. Other singers may be able to express joy, or pain, or regret, or longing, or other feelings. But how many other singers are able to convey so many different emotions all at once?

Billie Holiday (with Jimmy Rowles, piano), “My Man,” live

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lagniappe

I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That’s all I know.

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No two people on earth are alike, and it’s got to be that way in music or it isn’t music.

—Billie Holiday