Lady Day: The Many Faces Of Billie Holiday

by Robert O'Meally

Overview

"Billie Holiday deserves a biography in which her musicianship isn't overshadowed by the tragic events of her life. O'Meally has written that book," says Entertainment Weekly about this absorbing and authoritative account of the greatest jazz singer in history. O'Meally emphasizes Holiday's artistry and training rather than her personal miseries, and he uses voluminous archival material to correct common myths about Holiday. Chronicling her rigorous musical apprenticeship in Baltimore, her reception in New York by Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington, and her work with various musicians, particularly Lester Young, Lady Day is an impassioned testament to Holiday's genius that confirms her place in American jazz.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306809590
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	09/07/2000
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Robert O'Meally, Zora Neale Hurston Professor of English and American Studies at Columbia University, is the author of The Craft of Ralph Ellison and the editor of The Jazz Cadence of American Culture. He is co-producer of the 5-CD Smithsonian set The Jazz Singers, nominated for a Grammy award. His articles on American music and literature appear in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic Monthly.

Editorial Reviews

O'Meally concentrates on Holiday the musician in this profusely illustrated biographical study.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Narcotics, jail, sexual abuse, and prejudice are often our first associations concerning the life of the great jazz singer, but this biography recalls only Holiday as artist. O'Meally....puts her tragedy and talent into perspective, and what emerges is a critique of a singer. The book's first section is outstanding in this regard, employing stories, quotes, and interviews in describing Holiday's technique. Holiday and William Dufty's Lady Sings the Blues.... is a serious and inspirational account; O'Meally's treatment is also serious, but he offers psychological analysis as well. Referring to the subtitle, O'Meally writes, ``Through her music . . . she faced down a world full of trouble . . . her songs were confrontations.'' No index or footnotes are provided, but there is a large selected bibliography. For large public libraries and academic music collections.

Library Journal