One of the most historic venues in New York City will be hosting a number of events to honor the legacy of one of America's greatest vocalists later this year, as the Apollo Theater is planning memorial concerts to mark what would have been the 100th birthday of Billie Holiday (from Billboard).
The headlining event will be a concert from Cassandra Wilson, herself a multiple Grammy winner for jazz-based categories, will perform a concert on April 10-Day's actual birthdate-singing the repertoire of the icon. Wilson will also be releasing a covers album titled Coming Forth By Day later this year, also featuring contributions from T-Bone Burnett, Van Dyke Parks and Nick Zinner of the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs. The Apollo date will be the opening for Wilson's world tour.
Among the other honors to be bestowed upon Holiday during her personal holiday will be an induction into its "Walk of Fame." Although she didn't quite make a career at the venue in the same way as James Brown, she was a frequent performer, having played more than two dozen gigs at the historic Harlem venue over the years.
Unfortunately Day didn't get as many birthdays amongst us as we would have liked. Like many jazz artists she struggled with addiction, battling alcoholism and drug abuse. Her habits led to liver cirrhosis, and she was handcuffed to her hospital bed when she died at the age of 44, the result of an aggressive campaign against narcotics users carried out by the FBI.
She of course sang a variety of jazz standards during her career but found the most chart success with the hits "I'm Gonna Lock My Heart" and "Carelessly." No song better resonates then "Strange Fruit," her crushing and damning narrative of racism and intolerance in the South. Although Wilson hasn't yet released a tracklist for her Holiday tribute album, you can expect the latter tune at the very least to make an appearance.
