#fridayreads: The United States vs. Billie Holiday

 

Don't know why, there's no sun up in the sky... Stormy Weather. Whether the forecast predicts sun or clouds, the jazz singer Billie Holiday's unique voice was unmistakable. Today Hulu releases a film called "The United States vs. Billie Holiday." It's about her life and the federal government's attempt to stop her from singing a song called "Strange Fruit" which is not really about produce at all.

Jessup Library does not want to encourage you to sing the blues in the library, but feel free to belt it out at home. Are you interested in learning more about Ms. Holiday and the mid-twentieth century musical era? We can recommend the following:

• Billie's Blues
  
• If You Can't Be Free, Be a Mystery
  
• With Billie
  
• The swing era : the development of jazz, 1930-1945
  
• Sophisticated ladies : the great women of jazz
  

If you're too busy to swing on over to the library to check out print books, you can access these electronic books from home. Just be careful with your electronics if you're singing in the shower!

• Billie Holiday: a biography
  
• Pressed for All Time Producing the Great Jazz Albums from Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday to Miles Davis and Diana Krall