Lady Sings the Blues

The Dix Hills Performing Arts Center presents “Lady Sings the Blues,” celebrating the late, great Billie Holliday with Tierney Ryan Sept. 11th at 2:00 p.m.

“Modern-day Lady Day” Tierney Ryan and her band will recreate a concert befitting Holiday,
one of history’s greatest jazz and blues singers

August 16, 2011, Dix Hills, New York – The Dix Hills Performing Arts Center presents “Lady Sings the Blues,” celebrating the late, great Billie Holliday and featuring vocalist Tierney Ryan and her band, Sunday, September 11th at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $20.

Billie Holiday (1915-1959) was born Eleanora Fagan but known simply as “Lady Day” to millions of adoring fans. Having already discovered Benny Goodman, and would later discover Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen among many others, John Hammond discovered her singing in a Harlem jazz club at age 18 -- knew raw talent when he heard it.

Billie Holiday was one of the greatest jazz singers of the 1930s and ‘40s, with a unique sound and style of singing that delivered intense emotion and conviction with every note. Born to teenage parents and shuttled between relatives as a child in a poor section of Baltimore, Maryland, she had little guidance and took to the streets at a young age.

She experienced a lifetime's worth of hardships by the age of 18 – before being discovered by Hammond, who was instrumental in getting her a recording gig with top band leader Benny Goodman. She later collaborated with jazz greats including Goodman, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.
She became a pioneer of race relations, and toured with Artie Shaw and his orchestra, becoming one of the first African-Americans to sing with a white band. During this time, she would often perform "Strange Fruit", a song about the lynching of African Americans, which became one of her signature songs. She was portrayed on film by Diana Ross in “Lady Sings the Blues,” produced by Motown in 1972. It was based on her 1956 autobiography, which took its name from one of her biggest hits.

Singer Tierney Ryan was raised in Plainview, Long Island, made a name for herself in local community musical theater, and studied music at Five Towns College, where she developed her Jazz styling. She has become a regular on the Long Island jazz scene, headlining in clubs, taking lead roles in local stage productions and most recently teaming up with three other talented women as the a capella group The Jingle Belles.
She is now performing with a Bossa Nova group called Xango, and singing harmony for the band The Midtown Collective. She also recently performed with Ahmed Jahmal’s bassist Jim Cammack, and well known pianist Robert Lepley at Fox Hollow in Long Island. She is now currently recording an album at Five Towns studios.

Her role recreating the music of Billie Holliday is a reprise of her 2008 and 2010 performances here in Dix Hills. She has also appeared on stage with such greats as Bucky Pizzarelli, Peter Rogine, Joe Carbone and Jimmy Halpern.

The Dix Hills Performing Arts Center

The Dix Hills Performing Arts Center is located at Five Towns College, 305 North Service Road, Dix Hills, New York, 11746-5857. For more information and ticket sales, please contact the Dix Hills Performing Arts Center box office at (631) 656-2148 or visit online at www.DHPAC.org *Become a fan on Facebook (Dix Hills Performing Arts Center).