Billie Holiday. Légende noire

Philharmonie de Paris

An icon with an inimitable voice, Billie Holiday transformed jazz and marked history through the artistic and political power of her singing. La Philharmonie devotes a vibrant retrospective to her, punctuated with works of art and rare documents that celebrate her genius, her freedom and the burning relevance of her legacy. The vocal art of jazz at its peakConsidered the quintessential jazz singer, Billie Holiday remains one of the major figures of the 20th century. In 2021, the Chicago Tribune named her among "the thirty-six Black women who changed American history." An admirer of Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith in her early days, she invented a way of singing whose influence extends well beyond vocal jazz, from Frank Sinatra to Janelle Monáe, by way of Miles Davis, Nina Simone or Amy Winehouse. The singularity of her vocal timbre, her way of phrasing like an instrumentalist, and the expressiveness of her interpretations make her a singer like no other. Surrounded by the greatest musicians of her time, such as Teddy Wilson, Lester Young, Count Basie and Oscar Peterson, she produced a multitude of recordings that have become masterpieces, which have lost none of their power nor their emotional charge. A contemporary iconA victim of racism throughout her career as in her everyday life, Billie Holiday was one of the first African-American artists to denounce the violence of segregation by performing "Strange Fruit," a song targeting lynchings in the southern United States. Exploited without restraint by the tabloid press, her personal life, marked by abusive relationships, drug addiction and run-ins with the law, contributed to forging the tragic legend of an artist who died prematurely at the age of 44. Going against melodramatic clichés, however, the exhibition retraces the extraordinary destiny of this artist who became an icon both glamorous and deeply political. It highlights the richness of her art and underscores her remarkable resilience, from her childhood in Baltimore to her final European tours. Between art and memory: an unprecedented retrospectivePunctuated with works of art and installations – from Niki de Saint Phalle to Mickalene Thomas, from Romare Bearden to Barthélemy Toguo and Raphaël Barontini – the exhibition sheds light on the aura of Billie Holiday, who marked the history of art almost as much as that of music. Drawing on her memoirs as well as her songs, this first retrospective places the singer's voice at the heart of the exhibition, fully embodying her destiny and her talent. Billie Holiday's talent and example continue, nearly a century later, to inspire artists and move audiences around the world.

Source: Paris Open Data ↗