The Billie Holiday Project

Stella and her quintet present the music of Billie Holiday. Shrouded in mystery as she was draped in fur, Billie was multi-faceted; she possessed a sensitivity and ability to make the songs she sang as personal as if she was singing them softly in your very own ear. Featuring some of the Bay Area’s finest Jazz musicians, Stella’s quintet brings back the electric and intimate feeling of seeing Lady Day live in a 1930’s Jazz Club. Drawing from some of Billie’s most recorded tunes such as, Blue Moon, Billie’s Blues, and Strange Fruit, to name a few, the band also revives some of the earlier and lesser known tunes she interpreted. Stories of Billie’s life and music are interspersed with the music. The Band features, Stella Heath highlighting the vocal style of Billie Holiday; Neil Fontano classic style piano virtuoso from Sonoma County; Michael Fortunato rich and inventive on tenor saxophone and clarinet harkening back to Lester Young's soulful sound; Trevor Kinsel interchanging between upright bass and cornet; and Spike Klein on the drum kit.