The #1 American Pioneer of Jazz and Pop Vocal Stylization

Billie Holiday

by Pete Holly

Everything about Billie Holiday was unique.She was the first Black Vocalist to
be the lead vocalist for several of America's Top Touring Orchestra's in the 1930's.
What Billie had that made these orchestra's seek her out;Despite the racial uproar
they knew would follow was something so special,so completely new that Billie and
only Billie could deliver.She a brand new way of singing lead vocal parts.It was sleek,
elegant,and the essence of cool.Instead of starting right on the first beat of a phrase-
Billie would hold out for just a second-wait-and then in the coolist way possible come
in later and make it sound right on time ! No-one had ever sung like this before.It
took people black and white by total surprise-but in the best way possible for it
became this cool new style that America and eventually the whole world fully
embraced as "the way" to sing both pop and jazz music.No-one in pop or jazz ever sang g the same way again for once Billie's recordings became available and she toured all across
America.Every singer working at that time started to work as much of Billie's cool style
into thier own style as they could manage-including the biggest singing stars of the day-Frank
Sinatra-Dean Martin-You name a singer and Billie influenced them;even as late as 1970 you
can hear some of Billie's Style in Led Zepplin's Robert Plant's delivery and even Elvis-The Man-
The King-had that little hesitation right before blew the audience completly away-that was pure
Billie Holiday style.
It's hard to say where or how Billie learned to sing the way she did.She had an extremly
rough childhood and had allready been around the block a time or two before she became America's Star Vocalist.Everyone then and everyone now take's something from Billie's
deceivingly casual delivery.She is the template for all Rock,Pop,and Jazz Vocal sound's.Without
Billie there would be no cool.She invented it.As Frank Sinatra said "She's the Greatist Female
Vocalist of All-Time".

Written by Pete Holly-Copyright-2010-All Rights Reserved