Billie Holiday: An Everlasting Influence

Even though the Great Depression affected Harlem vigorously in 1929, the accomplishments, creativity, and glamour of the 20's did not expire immediately. The Harlem Renaissance was best understood as the new social and cultural landscape of the 1920s, because the Harlem renaissance kept breathing on even with the thought to end when the stock market crashed. The Harlem Renaissance was a ground breaking revolution that occurred during the 1920’s to the 1940’s. The name was given to the artistic, social, and cultural explosion that took place in Harlem, New York. Its high point included many talented and impressive African Americans who were doing memorable and exciting things in lively places. It published a Black America that was never revealed before.

The Harlem Renaissance was a black literary and art movement that began in Harlem, New York. Migrants from the South came to Harlem with new ideas and a new type of music called Jazz. Harlem welcomed many African Americans who were talented. Writers in the Harlem Renaissance had separated themselves from the isolated white writers which made up the “lost generation” The formation of a new African American cultural identity is what made the Harlem Renaissance and the Lost Generation unique in American culture because it influenced white literacy and it was a sense of freedom for African Americans.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, the song that put on her on the charts, Aretha Franklin, one of the most influential female artists of all time is the artist that interest me the most. With her vocals a mixture of jazz and rhythm & blues, Aretha gained fame. Her vocals were so good, that it made her to have hit records over five years, which later on in her career, cause her to be inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. Also giving her the title “The Queen of Soul”. Like most artists today, Franklin got her career started by singing gospel, and from gospel to pop and R&B. Aretha Franklin had many accomplishments in her time, like having 13 million songs sold. Also, “Aretha Franklin did not only symbolized female empowerment in the sound of her records

For example, the Harlem Renaissance was a great opportunity for African Americans to express their sadness they had felt as slaves. This was demonstrated by Billie Holiday who sang The Strange Fruit; “Southern Trees bare strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees….” Instead of directly stating his perspective as a slave, Holiday ties in a lot of emotion by using strange fruit as a symbol of slaves. He also brings in the words “blood” and “black bodies” to symbolize the dark times he had gone through as a slave. This also significantly affected social change in the Harlem renaissance, because it is a very sad and deep side that Americans were not able to experience. Not all music produced in the Harlem Renaissance was about slavery, for many people this was a chance to draw attention to their talents. A great example of this is Josephine Baker, who was a singer in the 1900’s, she brought a lot of singing talents to America. She not only inspired other African American women but her talent had inspired many caucasian women as well. This helped the different races unite and combine cultures, which greatly impacted the social American lives. Progressively, Americans understood more of black

Often referred to as "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald was one of the most popular female jazz singers in the United States. Throughout her career, Ella was awarded thirteen Grammys and sold over 40 million albums. With a voice that not only encompassed a large range, but a dynamic and powerful sound, Ella could sing almost anything from scatting to the popular tunes of her day. She performed in the top venues all around the world to packed houses, with audiences as diverse as the music she created. Ella came from a small town and impoverished family, but through her talent and determination, skyrocketed to fame creating a legacy that has withstood the sands of time.

Buddy Holly changed Rock and Roll in his own way. He accomplished many things in his life and learned to sway the crowd. Buddy had a huge impact on people for such a short life, created his own style on his guitar, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, making him one of the most creative singer of the 20th century.

There were many influential musicians of the Harlem Renaissance, yet Billie Holiday stands out as a sincere artist with a style all her own. While many artists used the characteristic scat singing, Holiday rarely sang the gibberish words and focused on the meaning of the song through her intense yet quiet voice. Despite the common Tin Pan Alley technique of plugging out songs simply to promote the sheet music, Holiday explored improvisation and made each song her own. Through her jazz improvisation, sincerity, and manipulation of phrasing, Billie Holiday created a revolutionary style of singing that many musicians copied in years to come.

Ella Fitzgerald, also known as “The First Lady of Song” or “Lady Ella”, was an extraordinary singer highly known in the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Virginia then moving to New York, Ella grew up during the 1920s and got her breakthrough in the early 1930s. She joined an orchestra and produced her first number one single, A-Tisket, A-Tasket. Ella’s contributions to the Harlem Renaissance included not only her songs, but her appearances in movies such as. Ella Fitzgerald is shaped into the woman that she once was through her background, accomplishments, challenges and hardships; she also leaves a legacy that would continue on to influence many generations to come.

The Harlem Renaissance also known as The New Negro Movement was an explosion of African American culture during the 1920s to the mid-1930s through literature, dance, music, theater, and paintings. The Harlem Renaissance may have been located in the heart of Harlem but the impact was felt all across the United States. The Harlem Renaissance gave a voice to a race that had only been seen as slaves.

On April 7th 1915, Eleanora Fagan was welcomed into the world by her young, very complicated mother and father. Her mother, a maid, was ejected from her parents apartment after they discovered her pregnancy. Her father, Clarence Holiday, who had his heart set on becoming a famous musician, exchanged his fatherly responsibilities, for a life of touring with his band and being an infrequent visitor. In the few times her father visited her, he made the observation that Elanora was a tomboy, and started to call her Bill. In an effort to be more feminine and in honor of her favorite actress and Baltimorean Billie Dove, Bill was exchanged for Billie, and the star we come to know and love was born. This seemingly small exchange in identity led her to incite major social change and influence many young artists to come. During the Harlem renaissance in which Billie Holiday thrived, culture was changing and eyes were being opened not only to black talent and potential but the injustice done to blacks and their effects on the black community. “Strange Fruit”, one of Billie’s most successful songs, is timeless. It's the song that forced open the ears of white america. Through that song and Billie holiday’s powerful performance, A story crying out to be told was finally spoken and for one of the first times, people were listening. To Bobby Short, the song was “ very, very, pivotal, a way of movingly do

The 20th century can be fairly considered as the most important period in the history of African American people because it is just the time when racism discrimination was overcome. For many years before the beginning of the struggle for rights of African-American people, there was a legal system based on white supremacy. African Americans didn't have a real opportunity to vote. Segregation was spread everywhere: black people were not allowed to take seats in public transport which belonged to whites, they could not attend universities and schools for white people, it was even forbidden to drink from the same drinking fountains. Many shops and stores, cafes and restaurants refused service African Americans and treated them as inferior people.

Over the course of human history, music has been an integral part of life. Music’s impact can be seen in every facet of the world today and it is a way to express feelings, tell a story, or prove a point. It can bring people together and can transcend communities, cultures, and ideologies. Although many do not realize it, music has had a profound impact on all human lives, and the lives of all others that have since died. Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come’ is a song that defined a generation while bringing the oppression and injustice that African Americans experienced, on a daily basis, to the forefront of society.

Selena Quintanilla-Perez was a talented Mexican-American singer, songwriter, spokesperson, and fashion designer. On top of her career, she had respect, and was admired as a great role model by Mexican Americans. The “Queen of Tejano” music, her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mexican-American entertainers of the late 20th century. Billboard magazine named her the “Top Latin Artist of the 90s” and then “Best Selling Latin Artist of the decade”. Selena ranks among the most influential Latin artists of all time and is credited for catapulting a music genre into the mainstream market. Even though Selena was murdered, she achieved many great things throughout her lifetime. She is remembered today for her wonderful accomplishments. Selena was one of many Mexican-Americans to achieve crossover success with her music to become a global artist.

The Harlem Renaissance was a time of black individualism, a time marked by a vast array of characters whose uniqueness challenged the traditional inability of white Americans to differentiate between blacks. In fact, the Harlem community is made up of African-Americans and Western Indians. These blacks number more than 10,000 protested against racial discrimination and injustice from the white American society. Many changes took place during the emergence of Harlem, where many blacks came to Harlem, although they were mainly immigrants from the countryside and agricultural south to urban industrial centers in the north such as Harlem. The majority of Blacks have settled in Harlem. Among them musicians, writers, critics, etc. Harlem became the source of intellectuals and one of the greatest literary centers of all talents. Focused on the Harlem locale of New York City, the Harlem Renaissance was a piece of an across the country urban insurgency started by World War I (1914-18). The social upheaval, which took after the emotional flood of Southern blacks into Northern urban communities amid and after the war (the supposed Great Migration), brought the open deliberation over racial personality

For this discussion I choose a musician Louise Armstrong song from Pandora. When I type Louis Armstrong song, there were hundreds of his records. I choose a “Stardust” track from the album called “Don 't Get Around Much Anymore “. This song is composed by the popular song composer by Hoagy Carmichael in 1927. This song has many versions that recorded by other jazz great musician added to Armstrong. Armstrong recorded this song in 1931.just before an instrumental break, Armstrong use alternate take inserted to the lyrics “oh, memory”. This song involved a great role in culture and stories because this song used at a critical moment during “Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories” Stardust is best combination of melody, strong lyrics and perfect balance