Description:
Jazz singer Billie Holiday performing in Esquire Jam Session at Metropolitan Opera House. Billie Holiday made her singing debut in obscure Harlem nightclubs and then toured with Count Basie and Artie Shaw before going solo. Despite a lack of technical training, Holiday’s unique diction, inimitable phrasing and acute dramatic intensity made her the outstanding jazz singer of her day. White gardenias, worn in her hair, became her trademark. The musical legend died at the age of 44.