Martha goes to jail & it all comes back to da jazz

[Man with the Golden Arm]

Just reading the news and saw that Martha Stewart will be doing her time at the same WVA prison that housed Billie Holiday in the late forties. While sleuthing thru it seems that this website inquires about Holiday possibly recording some sides as one "Billie Stewart" just before her incarceration. I just thought it serendipitous.

"billie holiday ou billie stewart"

[jazzbo]

I'm not sure it IS Holiday. Also from this page comes:

Adding to the legend surrounding Gloomy Sunday is the recent discovery of a 1947 Savoy recording by an unknown vocalist identified as "Billie Stewart." On the flip side is In My Solitude, and the record label also identifies the singer as Billie Stewart. The singer’s voice bears a vague resemblance to Billie Holiday’s and some have theorized that Billie simply re-recorded the tune using an alias because of a studio strike that occurred in the 1940s. But research by musicologists has identified vocal patterns and style differences that appear to rule out Holiday. This unusual recording is still being researched.

There is also a 1949 recording by Billie Stewart with some of the same musicians from the 1947 date. So much has been written about Billie Holiday including interviews with former associates and yet there has been no mention of her using an alias on any of her recordings. But musicologists have yet to identify this mysterious "Billie Stewart."

Edited October 8, 2004 by jazzbo