A Celebration of Billie Holiday
Featuring Danilo Perez and Lizz Wright
Sunday, October 18
6 to 7 pm
Tune in when host Maureen Malloy brings you the first installment of the Kimmel Center's Jazz Up Close series. This year, Jazz Up Close celebrates Philadelphia-born icon Billie Holiday, considered one of the greatest jazz vocalists of all time. Fifty years after her passing she continues to influence new generations of artists. In the first concert of the season, recorded live last week from the Perelman Theater, artistic director and pianist Danilo Perez accompanies vocalist Lizz Wright as they breathe new life into the historically pertinent song "Strange Fruit."
Watch and Listen: Billie Holiday sings her famous song "Strange Fruit"
On the original album, Lady Day was joined by Panamanian pianist Sonny White. Perez (also hailing from Panama) and the ever-eclectic Wright are the perfect pairing to pay homage to this classic recording. In fact, Wright has already been involved with an Ella Fitzgerald tribute project (We All Love Ella, Verve), and has recorded with jazz greats Toots Thielemans and Joe Sample.
This broadcast will also feature an artist chat with Danilo Perez, Lizz Wright, and the Kimmel Center's Programming Director Tom Warner.