“I actually started the whole project some years ago with a live debut at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. The focus was mainly on my favorite period of Billie Holiday, which was the late-50s Verve recordings, with essentially a small version of the Count Basie band.” YearsWholeFocusPeriodsBandProjectsLateYears AgoMy FavoriteVersionsHolidayDebutBrussels Author:Jose James
“I really pulled from that repertoire that Billie Holiday was singing, and the way she sang it. It's sort of this beautiful, not really midpoint, but a period of her career where she really still had her voice. She had that deep wisdom that we've come to associate her with. To me, that's her at the height of her powers.” WayStillsBeautifulVoiceCareersPeriodsSingingHeightHolidayAssociates Author:Jose James
“I feel like, in many ways, Billie Holiday's still very under-appreciated as an artist. People focus on her voice, and all of the very recognizable vocal things that she does, which are great. But I wanted to, with this project, start the conversation again about her as a radical feminist, as a civil rights activist - taking a stance. And also just [her] being a non-conformist.” PeopleWayFeelsDoeStillsWantedArtistVoiceFocusRightsConversationProjectsFeministCivil RightsRadicalHolidayActivistAppreciatedVocalStanceConformistRadical FeministNon Conformist Author:Jose James
“If you look at the other singers of Billie Holiday's time, they were really trying to entertain. They were trying to make people feel good. They were singing fast - and she was singing the blues.” PeopleIfsFeelsTryingLooksSingingSingersFeel GoodHolidaySinging The Blues Author:Jose James
“[Billie Holiday] was keeping it super real, and you can feel that to this day. Everything that she sang, she believed in. So I had to pick songs that I felt the same about.” FeelsRealSongFeltPicksHolidayThis Day Author:Jose James
“I also tried to focus on songs that Billie Holiday wrote, songs that she had a hand in shaping, like "Strange Fruit"; songs that were written for her or songs that she wrote herself, like "Fine and Mellow" or "God Bless The Child."” ChildrenHandsSongFocusWrittenStrangeFineFruitHolidayBlessGod BlessMellow Author:Jose James
“The other songs [of Billie Holiday] - "Body and Soul" is like the standard - I also wanted some songs that I knew I would sound good on, as a producer. It's been the same nine songs since I debuted it back in 2012.” SoulBodyWantedSongSoundStandardsNineProducersHoliday Author:Jose James
“Jason [Moran] and John [Patitucci] and Eric [Harland] knew it was a Billie Holiday tribute. I'm sure they assumed it was going to be like another singer date, where we just have a bunch of charts and they write them down and they got paid and kind of moved on. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not what I intended.” WritingKindPaidDown AndMovedSingersBunchHolidayTributeJasonEricMoved On Author:Jose James