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Billie Holiday
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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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.

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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Library Of Congress Receives Largest Single Audio Donation

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Courtesy of Decca

The Record

Library Of Congress Receives Largest Single Audio Donation

Recordings by Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday are included in the largest single donation of audio to the library.

Library Of Congress Receives Largest Single Audio Donation

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Billie Holiday: Emotional Power Through Song
Charles Hewitt/Getty Images

50 Great Voices

Billie Holiday: Emotional Power Through Song

Holiday became famous after she recorded "Strange Fruit," a 1939 protest song about lynchings of African-Americans. The haunting vocal offers a stark illustration of her greatest gift -- the ability to convey emotion.

Billie Holiday: Emotional Power Through Song

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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 Lady Day Primer

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William P. Gottlieb/Library of Congress via Flickr

Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

Billie Holiday: A Lady Day Primer

90.5 WESA

Holiday's voice was unlike that of any other singer in her time, and remains unmatched in style. She never simply sang a melody, but made every song her own by changing phrasing, sharpening or dragging out diction, or adding a little drama to a not-too-dramatic tune.