| Madame Zenobia Center for the Advancement of Perpetual Grooves hosts the 3rd
Annual Billie Holiday Birthday Bash on Saturday, April 7th (Holiday was
actually born April 7, 1915) at the historic Takoma Theater (6833 4th Street,
NW, Washington, DC). Activities get underway at 8 p.m. with performances by
Fertile Ground, Julie Dexter, Ayanna Gregory, Jenee Bevett and Maya Orr. The team at Madame Zenobia declares that this is by far their most ambitious
and highly produced Billie Bash ever in terms of production and complexity.
But as they said, "we think the legacy of Billie Holiday deserves it." They
explained that they want the production to continue growing without losing
the integrity of its original goal: "To pay homage to Billie Holiday and
explore her music and life in a contemporary, multi-media fashion." The first Billie Bash in 1999 was held at Eleventh Hour (now The Saint) with
jazz performances and the screening of the film "Lady Sings the Blues". The
Y2K Bash was held at the Velvet Lounge with two back-to-back sold-out shows
featuring jazz vocalist Maya Orr, along with spoken word artists Orphyx and
W. Ellington Felton. This year area favorite Fertile Ground headlines the night doing their
world-urban-jazz thang that earned them a recent tour with Jill Scott in
Europe and two popular remixes of their work in London. Even for die-hard
Fertile Ground fans, tonight will be a treat, as they will also do a number
of interpretations of Billie Holiday works -- unheard in previous shows. Dexter, Gregory, Bevett, and Orr will also add their sista soul to the
evening. All will also offer restyled Billie Holiday works as well as their
original material. In addition, expect some special tribute electronic
visuals and staging by the creative team of Zenobialistics such as "The
Electric Gardenia" pictorial and a video remix of "God Bless The Child". Tickets for this special musical tribute are $15 and can be purchased at any
TicketMaster outlet. For more information call 202-234-1979. |
