PROGRAM

Following the immense success and popularity of last February’s American Voices Symposium on the legacy and artistry of Billie Holiday, Roosevelt House is pleased to present an encore concert—featuring some of the same majestic voices, and some new ones. In considering whether to host a second concert of Holiday’s music, we had only to listen to the words of Lady Day herself, who once said: “we never know what is enough until we know what’s more than enough.”

In addition to marking the 110th anniversary of Holiday’s birthday on April 7, this performance also serves to celebrate the paperback publication of Hunter English Professor and American Voices Director Paul Alexander’s acclaimed book, Bitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday’s Last Year.

Featuring iconic Holiday classics as well as a few lesser-known gems, the concert will include popular jazz singer-songwriters Madeleine Peyroux, Catherine Russell, Mala Waldron, and Hilary Kole—accompanied by Adam Birnbaum on piano, Ike Sturm on bass, and Vinnie Sperrazza on drums.

Featuring:

Hilary Kole has performed in numerous venues including The Town Hall, Birdland, Blue Note, Iridium, 54 Below, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall (with Michael Feinstein and The New York Pops). She made her concert-hall debut at Lincoln Center as part of the “American Songbook Series.” Internationally, she has headlined at the Umbria Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Nairn Jazz Festival, and the Cotton Club and Blue Note in Japan. Her albums include Haunted Heart (produced by and featuring John Pizzarelli); A Self-Portrait; and Sophisticated Lady. She is the coauthor and costar of the highly successful Off-Broadway revue Our Sinatra, which premiered at the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel.

Madeleine Peyroux, who got her start busking on the streets of Paris, is one of the most popular jazz singer-songwriters performing today. Her albums include the bestselling Dreamland; the gold record Careless Love; The Blue Room; Secular Hymns; and Anthem. Her version of Serge Gainsbourg’s “La Javanaise” appeared in the Academy-Award-winning The Shape of Water. She tours extensively, both nationally and internationally. Peyroux counts Billie Holiday among her most important influences.

Catherine Russell, described by the Wall Street Journal as “one of the outstanding singers of our time,” carries on a rich jazz tradition practiced by her father, pianist and composer Luis Russell, the longtime collaborator and musical director for Louis Armstrong. Over her long career, Russell has recorded or performed with numerous artists, including David Bowie, Paul Simon, Rosanne Cash, Levon Helm, and Steely Dan. As a solo artist, she has recorded nine albums, including her most recent, My Ideal, a collaboration with Sean Mason, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal, her fourth nomination. She won a Grammy for her contribution to the soundtrack for the HBO series Boardwalk Empire.

Mala Waldron is a singer-songwriter whose albums include Deep Resonance; Always There; Lullaby, her solo debut and tribute to her godmother, Billie Holiday; and He’s My Father. The latter was recorded with her father, Mal Waldron, the accomplished pianist and composer (“Soul Eyes”) who served as Billie Holiday’s accompanist for the last two years of her life. Mala Waldon has performed at the Blue Note, the Jazz Standard, BAM, and the Kennedy Center.

Musicians:

Adam Birnbaum (keyboard) has performed in such venues as the Village Vanguard, the Blue Note, Birdland, the Jazz Standard, and Dizzy’s. He has played on numerous national and world stages, among them Gilmore International Keyboard Festival; the Kennedy Center; the Montreal Jazz Festival; The Spoleto Festival; the Red Sea Jazz Festival; the Rockport Chamber Festival; NPR Jazz Christmas; and the Capetown Jazz Festival. As a composer and arranger, he has released four albums. A professor at SUNY Purchase, he is a Steinway Artist.

Ike Sturm (bass) studied jazz and classical bass and composition while earning undergraduate and graduate degrees at the Eastman School of Music. He studied privately with legendary bassiest Dave Holland. He has performed with Gene Bertoncini, Theo Bleckmann, Ingrid Jensen, Donny McCaslin, Bobby McFerrin, Ben Monder, Maria Schneider, and Kenny Wheeler, among other artists. He has appeared with Alarm Will Sound and the International Contemporary Ensemble, along with numerous creative ensembles in New York.

Vinnie Sperrazza (drums) has toured with Stew and Heidi Rodewald in Stew and The Negro Problem, culminating in a show at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room. He premiered the Mark Morris Dance Group’s Pepperland in Liverpool, England with a score by composter Ethan Liverson. He is a member of Hank Roberts Sextet and Hank Roberts Trio, tours and records with groups Landline, the Choir Invisible, and Hearing Things, and works with bandleaders and composers Mike McGinnis and Michael Formanek. He leads his own bands Apocryphal and Small Cities.

Paul Alexander, American Voices Director and Moderator, has published eight books, including Bitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday’s Last Year, which was named a best book of the year by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Review, and The New Yorker. He is also the author of Salinger, a biography of J.D. Salinger that was the basis of a documentary televised on PBS’s American Masters, Netflix, and HBO. His nonfiction has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, New York, The Guardian, The Nation, and Rolling Stone. Previous American Voices events helmed by Alexander at Roosevelt House have focused not only on Billie Holiday but on Sylvia Plath, Sandra Cisneros, and Sonia Sanchez.

Ryan Keberle, Musical Director, is a trombonist “of vision and composure,” according to the New York Times. He plays with the indie jazz ensemble Catharsis as well as the Big Band Living Legacy Project, Reverso, and the All Ears Orchestra, featuring his original compositions. Catharsis’s albums include Find the Common, Shine a Light; and The Hope I Hold. Keberle has accompanied numerous artists ranging from Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake to Rufus Reid and Wynton Marsalis. He is the Director of Jazz and Brass Studies at Hunter College.