Billie Holiday Project

The Billie Holiday Project, led by Stella Heath, celebrates the music of Lady Day! Shrouded in mystery, as she was draped in furs, Billie was quintessentially multi-faceted, possessing the sensitivity and ability to make the songs she sang as personal as if she was singing them softly in your own very ear. Featuring some of the Bay Area's finest Jazz musicians, The Billie Holiday Project evokes the electric and intimate feeling of experiencing Lady Day live in a 1930s jazz club. Drawing from some of Billie's most recorded tunes, including "Blue Moon," "Billie's Blues," "God Bless the Child," and "Strange Fruit," the evening is interspersed with the music and stories of Billie's life, and revives some of her earlier and lesser-known tunes. The Billie Holiday Project features Stella Heath, invoking the vocal stylings of Billie Holiday; Neil Fontano, piano virtuoso from Sonoma County; Jason Bellenkes on tenor saxophone and clarinet, and Trevor Kinsel on upright bass and cornet.