Jazz History: Billie Holiday and Lena Horne's Contributions, Analysis

This essay undertakes a critical analysis of the contributions made by Billie Holiday and Lena Horne, two prominent Harlem jazz artists, to the evolution of jazz music. It explores how they refined the genre, overcoming limitations of earlier styles and broadening its appeal. The essay examines Holiday's innovative use of voice modulation and improvisation, as well as Horne's incorporation of acting into her performances. It highlights their impact on the perception of female jazz singers, and their breaking of stereotypes. The analysis draws on various sources to demonstrate the unique techniques and styles that these artists employed, and their lasting influence on the development of jazz and other music genres. The essay concludes that the contributions of both artists were significant and instrumental in shaping the trajectory of jazz music.

Running head: JAZZ HISTORY
JAZZ HISTORY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY BILLIE
HOLIDAY AND LENA HORNE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1JAZZ HISTORY
As stated by Schulman (2015), the musical genre of Jazz originated in the nation of
America in the late 19th century and the early 20th century as a result of the musical
experimentations undertaken by the African-American communities based in New Orleans.
Williams and Butler-Truesdale (2019) are of the viewpoint that this musical genre shares deep tie
with the other popular music genres of the nation of America like ragtime, blues and others and
thus it is seen that the concerned genre of music is often redolent with the themes or the
techniques which are a common part of the other musical genres. More importantly, it is seen
that the musical genre of Jazz had become an integral part of the musical and the cultural
traditions followed by the African-American communities and also offers them the opportunity
to express themselves adequately (Lefkovitz 2017). The resultant effect of this is that the
different Jazz compositions often highlight the different issues faced by the African-Americans,
the kind of changes that they expect within the society, their cultural traditions and other
important aspects of their life as well (DiMartino 2016). Furthermore, over the years it had been
seen that different Jazz artists like Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Bill Crump and others have made
important contributions not only towards the popularization of the concerned musical genre but
also towards the evolution of the same within the nation of USA as well. This essay intends to
undertake a critical analysis of the contributions made by the Harlem Jazz artists Lena Horne and
Billie Holiday towards the evolution of Jazz.
Young and Simone (2017) are of the viewpoint that one of the most important
contributions made by Lena Horne and Billie Holiday can be attributed to the fact that they
refined the crude musical genre of Jazz which was in vogue in the earlier times and created a
musical form that is presently being consumed by a large number of Americans. Adding to this,
Cooks and Eng-Wilmot (2016) have noted that the musical compositions composed by the

2JAZZ HISTORY
African-Americans in the domain of Jazz were simply a copy of the ones which were being
composed in the domain of ragtime or blues. Furthermore, as discussed by Horne (2019), these
musical compositions were often accompanied by large musical instruments which did not fit
within the musical pieces which were being composed by the Jazz artists. In addition to these, it
was also seen that the themes which these artists focused on within the musical compositions
created by them was largely imaginary and thereby not in synchronicity with the life which was
being led by the African-Americans within the nation of America (Jackson 2017). This in turn
substantially narrowed down the audience of the concerned musical genre and thereby adversely
affected the popularity of the same among the music listeners as well (Sloan 2019). The
importance of the contributions made by Lena Horne and Billie Holiday lies in the fact that they
helped the genre of Jazz to overcome these limitations or for that matter the shortcoming and
thereby contributed significantly towards the evolution as well as the popularization of Jazz
within the nation of America (Clifford-Napoleone 2018).
Eleanora Fagan or more commonly called by the name of Billie Holiday (1915-1959)
was one of the most popular Jazz singers of the 20th century who contributed substantially
towards the evolution of the concerned musical genre in the nation of USA (Torgoff 2017). She
is always being variously called “Lady Day” by her musical parent “Lester Young” and fans and
the Jazz musical pieces composed as well as sung by her are famous even in the present times
(Gabbard 2015). Bernardi and Green (2017) are of the viewpoint that one of the most important
contributions of Billie Holiday towards the cannon of Jazz music can be attributed to the fact that
she introduced the concept of voice modulation within the same. For instance, prior of her, the
majority of the Jazz artists focused on the aspect of the musical instruments which were being for
the creation of Jazz music and relied on the same for gaining success or for that matter the

3JAZZ HISTORY
required popularity (Green 2015). However, a critical analysis of the different Jazz songs sung
by Holiday like “"What a Little Moonlight Can Do”, “Lady in Satin” and others clearly indicate
this aspect of the songs composed by her (Harper 2018). More importantly, as discussed by
Mead et al. (2018), she is also credited for being one of the very first Jazz artists who resorting to
the usage of method of change voice tones or for that matter the tempo for the phrasing of
different words or phrases which were of importance to the song that she was singing.
Williams and Butler-Truesdale (2019) are of the viewpoint that Billie Holiday had a
seminal influence on the Jazz music and completely transformed the manner or for that matter
the style in which the different Jazz musical pieces were being composed by the artists related to
Harlem. Adding to this, Bernardi and Green (2017) have noted that she is also responsible for
bring about the required change within the manner in which the different Jazz musical pieces
were being sung by the Harlem artists which in turn substantially contributed towards the
evolution of Jazz. For instance, unlike the other Jazz artists she ensured the fact that her voice
complimented the musical sound created by the musical instruments (Clifford-Napoleone 2018).
In this connection, it needs to be said that the voice used by Holiday was strongly influenced by
the different Jazz musical instruments and this is perhaps one of the most important reasons why
she actively used the methods of improvisation and thereby frequently altered her voice tone
(Cooks and Eng-Wilmot 2016). These aspects of the musical compositions of Holiday not only
positively affected the different Jazz artists of the Harlem and thereby led to the evolution of the
musical genre of Jazz but at the same time positively affected the other genres of music like pop,
rock and others as well (Young and Simone 2017).
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne or more commonly called by the name of Lena Horne
(1917-2010), was an important American Jazz singer as well as actress who contributed

4JAZZ HISTORY
substantially towards the evolution of Jazz (DiMartino 2016). More importantly, she was a civil
right activist who substantially transformed the themes which were being used by the different
Jazz artists before her which in turn led to the contribution of the concerned genre of music
(Mead et al. 2018). Furthermore, a critical analysis of her musical career reveals the fact that she
active tie-up with the different nightclubs of the nation of American and the effect of this is
perceptible not only in the manner in which she sang the different songs but also the different
themes that were being used by her as well (Gabbard 2015). Moreover, she shared active
connections with the Harlem and also the different African-American communities of the nation
of America and this is perhaps one of the most important reasons why the majority of the songs
composed by her focus on the issues, challenges and other aspects of the life of African-
Americans in the nation under discussion here (Horne 2019).
Lena Horne started her Jazz music career by getting associated with the “Noble Sissle's
Orchestra” and as part of this group she toured the entire nation of America (Williams and
Butler-Truesdale 2019). However, along with being an excellent Jazz artist she was also a gifted
actress and thus it is seen that during the actual performance of the different Jazz songs sung by
her, she used to perform the same on the stage through the adequate usage of her acting skills
(Bernardi and Green 2017). Mead et al. (2018) are of the viewpoint that this is perhaps one of the
most important contributions of Lena Horne towards the cannon of Jazz music which in turn led
to the evolution of the concerned genre itself. For instance, prior to Lena Horne, the Jazz artists
simply stood on the stage and sang the songs composed which as a matter of fact used to make
their performances very monotonous for the audiences (Young and Simone 2017). However, the
singing as well as the performance style which was used by Lena Horne made the performances
very enjoyable for the audiences and thereby contributed significantly to enhance her popularity

5JAZZ HISTORY
among the audiences (Cooks and Eng-Wilmot 2016). Furthermore, this particular aspect was
being followed by the subsequent Jazz artists for the purpose of gaining the kind of popularity as
well as the success that Lena Horne enjoyed through the adequate usage of this particular
technique or for that matter style which in turn directly contributed towards the evolution of Jazz
in the subsequent times (Williams and Butler-Truesdale 2019).
A critical analysis of two Jazz artists Lena Horne and Billie Holiday clearly reveals that
the success that they were being able to attain can be attributed to the effective usage of the
different kinds of techniques or for that matter the styles which were not being used by the
earlier Jazz artists. In the particular context of Billie Holiday, it can be said that her adequate
usage of the methods of voice modulation, improvisation, synchronizing her voice with the
sound produced by the musical instruments and others helped her to substantially enhance the
musical appeal of the Jazz songs which were sung by her (Clifford-Napoleone 2018). On the
other hand, in the particular context of Lena Horne, it can be said that the adequate usage of
acting skills for the purpose of making her Jazz performances more appealing for the audiences
was an important factor which substantially contributed towards the success attained by her
(Mead et al. 2018). More importantly, Young and Simone (2017) have noted that an important
concept held within the world of Jazz back in the 20th century was the fact that only male Jazz
singers were capable of captivating the audiences and thus it was seen that the majority of the
Jazz singers were men. However, the success attained by these two women Jazz artists clearly
reveal the fact that this stereotype held within the world of Jazz was not valid (Williams and
Butler-Truesdale 2019). This aspect along with the unique techniques or for that matter the styles
used by these Jazz artists contributed substantially towards the evolution of Jazz in the
subsequent times and were also being used extensively by the subsequent Jazz artists as well. in

6JAZZ HISTORY
the light of these aspects, it can be said that the contributions by the two Jazz artists under
discussion here contributed substantially towards the evolution of Jazz.
To conclude, the musical genre of Jazz which emerged in the later part of the 19th century
and the early part of the 20th century had undergone a substantial amount of transformation or for
that matter evolution over the years. For instance, in the earlier times it was seen that the musical
pieces related to this particular genre were very crude and focus was being placed only on the
musical instruments which were being used for the creation of the Jazz musical pieces. However,
the contributions made by the subsequent Jazz artists like Lena Horne, Billie Holiday and others
contributed significantly towards the evolution of the concerned musical genre. In this
connection, it needs to be said that Billie Holiday introduced the concept of voice modulation,
improvisation and others within the framework of the world of Jazz. On the other hand, Lena
Horne introduced the concept of acting or performance within the same. Furthermore, they also
broke the stereotype that only male Jazz artists were capable of attaining success within the field
of Jazz. These contributions made by the important Jazz artists contributed substantially towards
the evolution of the concerned genre of music. These aspects of the musical genre of Jazz
become apparent from the above analysis of the same in the particular context of the
contributions made by Billie Holiday and Lena Horne towards the evolution of the same.

7JAZZ HISTORY
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8JAZZ HISTORY
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