Lady Day

My father used to tell a story about the time he was working at the Howard Theater in DC and was instructed to pick up Billie Holiday from where she was staying. He drove over and waited and waited and waited outside until finally Billie came out and got into the car. She was late because she was completely stoned. He told me he took her to the theater nonetheless and when she stepped onto the stage she "sobered" right up or at least appeared that way and sang and sang and sang only as Lady Day could.

From The Root...

Billie Holiday was obviously given much more than most, and her talent revealed itself through her intensity, her phrasing and her control of nuance more so than the conventional strengths of big sound, great range and stunning projection. Her voice was small, and her range was equally small. Standing next to most singers, she would never get you to put your money on her, unless you knew in advance that her emotional force and her ability to summon pathos, joy and melancholy with naked precision would demolish almost anyone intent on making a contest out of a hazardous moment on the bandstand with her.

There the story of one performance with super virtuoso Sarah Vaughan. Vaughan was so profoundly endowed with a superior instrument that she sometimes could not avoid strutting her stuff to the point of obnoxiousness. But the ax fell. When Vaughan called up “I Cried For You,” Holiday whispered, “You done screwed up now, bitch. That’s my song.”