Lady Day on the saxophone

Miss Day (or 'Lady Day') is Courtney's music teacher.

She agrees to give him saxophone lessons at the end of afternoon school. Courtney begins by listening very carefully as Miss Day plays, and copying.

'Lady Day' was a name given to Billie Holiday, a great Jazz singer. (Actually, her real name was Eleanora. Billie was the name of a favourite movie star).

While Billie scrubbed floors, she listened to the music of Louis Armstrong on records played on an old wind-up gramophone.

She would sing along while the music played. Billie made up her mind to become a jazz singer.

She began to sing jazz in nightclubs in the Harlem district of New York. Soon, everyone was talking about the great new Jazz singer in the neighbourhood. Jazz musicians liked playing with Billie because she could make her voice sound like an instrument. In 1933, she recorded with Benny Goodman, and in 1937 she was asked to sing with Count Basie's world famous swing band.

Billie's life story is told in the movie Lady sings the Blues.<

Billie Holiday poster image courtesy of AllPosters.com

Discover more about Lady Day at www.cmgww.com/music/holiday/