I LOVED the quartal passage around the 11:00 mark, makes for a wonderful key OR style/mood change without sounding forced or abrupt, but can happen over a single beat!
Drummer Dick Berk's first professional road gig was with Billie Holiday. He had just graduated from high school and he told me that the first night on the gig he was so overwhelmed with her singing (and the band) that he couldn't play at all. Billie was very understanding and let him keep the job but of course he started playing on the second night (and thereafter). Your insight on these songs is truly inspirational and helpful. Thank you for all that you're doing with this project. Great piano playing too!
Beautifully done Ron. You were able to evoke so much nostalgia both sad and happy .. love that minor to major modulation. I didn’t want u to stop either ! 😊
Great and sensitive explanation and presentation. What a song! I seem to remember a pink and light blue cover with a simple photo of Billie🤔. I remember being shocked by the bridge. Thanx, Maestro. 🔥🌹🌹🔥
Jazz vocals are all about turning your limitations into your superpowers. Anita O'Day, for instance, couldn't sustain very well, so she would scat over long phrases and use her voice more as an instrument of rhythm than one of tone. Anita said of Billie that she had "no chops at all" but that "she was doing SOMETHING out there!"
