Dissonance

“Strange Fruit” was a poem written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish high-school teacher from the Bronx, about the lynching of two black men.”

“Barney Josephson, the founder of Cafe Society in Greenwich Village, New York’s first integrated nightclub, heard the song and introduced it to Billie Holiday. Holiday first performed the song at Cafe Society in 1939. She said that singing it made her fearful of retaliation, but because its imagery reminded her of her father, she continued to sing it. She made the piece a regular part of her live performances. Because of the poignancy of the song, Josephson drew up some rules: Holiday would close with it; second, the waiters would stop all service in advance; the room would be in darkness except for a spotlight on Holiday’s face; and there would be no encore.”

“In time, it became Holiday’s biggest-selling record. Though the song became a staple of her live performances, Holiday’s accompanist Bobby Tucker recalled that Holiday would break down every time after she sang it.”

Billie Holiday

Strange Fruit

Miles

Django Reinhardt

More Django…

Djano Reinhardt. Incredible soloist. Amazing history.

“Reinhardt was attracted to music at an early age, playing the violin at first. At the age of 12, he received a banjo-guitar that had been given to him as a gift. He quickly learned to play, mimicking the fingerings of musicians he watched. By the age of 13, Reinhardt was able to make a living playing music. As a result, he received little formal education and acquired the rudiments of literacy only in adult life.”

When Django was 18 he was caught in a fire started by a candle he knocked over on his way to bed. His neighbors saved his life however he had already severely burned his right leg and two fingers on his left hand but Instead of just quitting all together, Django relearned how to play with just three fingers.

He had never heard jazz until he was 20 and when someone played him the record “Dallas Blues” by Louis Armstrong he began to tear up. “Louis Armstrong with two notes could make you cry.” He quickly taught himself how to play jazz started playing clubs around Paris with like minded violinist, Stéphane Grappelli. Eventually Django became a local icon and was known as the best jazz musician in France.