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Billie Holiday

From Chuck Berry To Tupac Shakur: Taking Stock Of The 2008 Universal Fire

Chuck Berry in the Chess Records recording studio. The New York Times reports that originals of Berry's Chess catalog were burned in the 2008 Universal fire. Gilles Petard/Redferns/Getty Images hide caption

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Gilles Petard/Redferns/Getty Images

Music News

From Chuck Berry To Tupac Shakur: Taking Stock Of The 2008 Universal Fire

The loss from the 2008 Universal Studios backlot fire was thought to be a few movie sets and film duplicates. But Jody Rosen reports that it was one of the largest losses in recorded music's history.

From Chuck Berry To Tupac Shakur: Taking Stock Of The 2008 Universal Fire

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The Politics And Passions Of Roger Waters
Carl Court/Getty Images

All Songs Considered

The Politics And Passions Of Roger Waters

The bassist, singer and songwriter behind some of the 20th century's most iconic music goes deep into race, civil rights, prison reform, the troubled music industry and more.

Guest DJ Roger Waters

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Getting Personal With Alt.Latino Guest DJ Natalia Clavier

Natalia Clavier. /Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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/Courtesy of the artist

Alt.Latino

Getting Personal With Alt.Latino Guest DJ Natalia Clavier

The Argentine singer makes her own music when she's not working with the band Thievery Corporation.

Getting Personal With Alt.Latino Guest DJ Natalia Clavier

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Billie Holiday: A Singer Beyond Our Understanding

Billie Holiday has become a mythic presence in absentia. William Gottlieb/Getty Images hide caption

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William Gottlieb/Getty Images

Jazz Night In America

Billie Holiday: A Singer Beyond Our Understanding

Most artists belong to their times. But Holiday, born 100 years ago Tuesday, fits in the present.

Billie Holiday: A Singer Beyond Our Understanding

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Billie Holiday: 'Lady Sings the Blues'

Billie Holiday, early 1950s. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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Hulton Archive/Getty Images

NPR's 'Jazz Profiles'

Billie Holiday: 'Lady Sings the Blues'

Few voices in recorded music are as immediately distinctive and arresting as that of "Lady Day."

Billie Holiday: 'Lady Sings the Blues'

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Cassandra Wilson 'Couldn't Wait' To Reinvent The Billie Holiday Songbook

Cassandra Wilson's Billie Holiday tribute album is titled Coming Forth By Day. Mark Seliger/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Mark Seliger/Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

Cassandra Wilson 'Couldn't Wait' To Reinvent The Billie Holiday Songbook

On Coming Forth By Day, one of today's premier jazz singers pays an imaginative tribute to one of her idols, born 100 years ago. As Wilson says, a simple imitation "would be almost insulting."

Cassandra Wilson 'Couldn't Wait' To Reinvent The Billie Holiday Songbook

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Opera Star Jessye Norman Picks Her Favorite Jazz Singers

In a conversation aired on WBGO, Jessye Norman credits the study of jazz with her understanding of song interpretation. Carol Friedman/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Carol Friedman/Courtesy of the artist

A Blog Supreme

Opera Star Jessye Norman Picks Her Favorite Jazz Singers

WBGO

As a fledgling classical soprano in New York, Norman went to hear singers like Mabel Mercer perform. She tells WBGO's Rhonda Hamilton that her study of jazz vocalists influenced the way she interprets songs — including operatic arias.

New Music

Song of the Week: 'Don't Explain'

Each week, the News & Notes staff recommends a song. Host Farai Chideya starts off with Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain." She discusses the song with Farah Jasmine Griffin, author of If You Can't Be Free Be a Mystery: In Search of Billie Holiday.

Song of the Week: 'Don't Explain'

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Music Interviews

'With Billie': A Jazz Great, As Others Saw Her

Countless books have been published on the life of Billie Holliday. British writer Julia Blackburn tries a different tack — in her book With Billie, she collects a series of interviews of some of those who knew the great jazz singer personally.

'With Billie': A Jazz Great, As Others Saw Her

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Music Interviews

New CD Set Celebrates Billie Holiday

Music journalist Ashley Kahn talks about the life and musical legacy of jazz singer Billie Holiday, who would have turned 90 this year. To mark the occasion, Universal Music has released Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection, a boxed set of Holiday's music for which Kahn wrote the liner notes.

New CD Set Celebrates Billie Holiday

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Review

Music Reviews

Rare Billie Holiday Music and Footage

Fresh Air

Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection, is a two CD/one DVD collection of Holiday performances. Included along with many of the singer's classic songs are some rarely seen appearances of Holiday on 1950s television.

Rare Billie Holiday Music and Footage

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Music Interviews

Billy Crystal: My Uncle Milt

Milt Gabler influenced Billy Crystal's entry into show business. The comedian's uncle also brought America a generation of legendary jazz music. A new CD compiled by Crystal celebrates Gabler's musical legacy.

Billy Crystal: My Uncle Milt

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The Strange Story Of The Man Behind 'Strange Fruit'

Abel Meeropol watches as his sons, Robert and Michael, play with a train set. Courtesy of Robert and Michael Meeropol hide caption

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Courtesy of Robert and Michael Meeropol

Music News

The Strange Story Of The Man Behind 'Strange Fruit'

One of Billie Holiday's most iconic songs is "Strange Fruit," a haunting protest against the inhumanity of racism. Many people know that the man who wrote the song was inspired by a photograph of a lynching. But they might not realize that he's also tied to an iconic event in America's history.

The Strange Story Of The Man Behind 'Strange Fruit'

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Looking For Lady Day's Resting Place? Detour Ahead

Queen Esther stands in front of Billie Holiday's gravesite in New York City. Mito Habe-Evans/NPR hide caption

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Mito Habe-Evans/NPR

Dead Stop

Looking For Lady Day's Resting Place? Detour Ahead

When Billie Holiday died on July 17, 1959, thousands of mourners attended her funeral at St. Paul the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in New York City. But Holiday isn't buried in New York's Woodlawn Cemetery, near Duke Ellington and Miles Davis. Instead, she's "way, way, way out" in the Bronx.

Looking For Lady Day's Resting Place? Detour Ahead

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Our Search For The Albums Everyone Loves
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All Songs Considered

Our Search For The Albums Everyone Loves

On this week's show hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton begin their summer-long quest to pin down the most universally loved albums.

Can't We All Just Get Along? Our Search For The Albums Everyone Loves

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Review

Basic Jazz Record Library

Billie Holiday: 'Love Songs'

Billie Holiday, also known as "Lady Day," began her career singing in Harlem nightclubs. She recorded the album Love Songs in the 1930s, when jazz commentator A.B. Spellman says she was "at her best."

Billie Holiday: 'Love Songs'

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Basic Jazz Record Library

Billie Holiday: 'Lady in Satin'

One year before her death, Billie Holiday recorded her last studio album, Lady in Satin. The album includes classic songs such as "You've Changed," "End of a Love Affair," and "Glad to be Unhappy."

Billie Holiday: 'Lady in Satin'

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