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Billie Holiday
The Politics And Passions Of Roger Waters
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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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All Songs Considered

Billie Holiday, The Magnetic Fields, the Jesus and Mary Chain, More

On this edition of All Songs Considered: rare live recordings from Billie Holiday; inspired new music from the Magnetic Fields and more.

Billie Holiday, The Magnetic Fields, the Jesus and Mary Chain, More

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All Songs Considered

David Gray, Billie Holiday, Richard Thompson

A life in slow motion from David Gray; solo acoustic work by Richard Thompson; face to face with guitarist Adrian Belew; old world folk by Baltimore's Madagascar and more.

David Gray, Billie Holiday, Richard Thompson

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Readers Respond To 'Saddest Music In The World'
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Deceptive Cadence

Readers Respond To 'Saddest Music In The World'

Music seems to excel above other arts when it comes to expressing sadness. What's the saddest music in the world? That question unleashed a river of tears, and some powerful stories, for our readers.

Billie Holiday: "Gloomy Sunday"

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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'

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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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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.

Discover Songs

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 Articles

'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 Articles

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 Articles

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 Articles

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'

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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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