Ready for an afternoon totally focused upon Lady Day? No, we won't be reading from the seriously ‘cleaned up’ (auto)biography ‘Lady Sings The Blues’ that she published in ’56 with the assistance of her ghostwriter William Dufty (which also once bore the working title ‘Bitter Crop’) and we won't be falling back upon the biopic of the same name from ’72 starring Diana Ross. We'll be attempting to dig just a little deeper and with more modern day relevance so as to delight even the biggest Lady Day fan. Expect readings, interviews, a listening session or even new revelations.

Unfortunately, the author STUART NICHOLSON cannot make it to the BILLIE HOLIDAY afternoon.

“Some bad news I'm afraid. Not able to do the Billie project at Easter. Very complicated situation which I will not bore you with. As you know this project dear to my heart as it is yours and I am so sad about having to cancel.”
We will therefore shorten the proceedings, the schedule will be:

4:00 PM – 4:30 PM: Q&A: JOSÉ JAMES – YESTERDAY I HAD THE BLUES.
José James is instigator of the project ‘Yesterday I Had The Blues’, the Billie Holiday tribute that takes place in the AB on this same evening. What is it about Billie Holiday that appeals to José James? What is the reason for his immense love for her?

4:30 PM – 5:00 PM: LISTENING SESSION: BILLIE HOLIDAY IN BELGIUM.
Billie Holiday toured Europe three times in her life. Namely in ’54, ’58 and ’59. In ’54 she gave her only Belgian concert ever in the Museum of Fine Art in Brussels. The concert was introduced – in respectable French – by the legendary British journalist/musician Leonard Feather. We tracked down this historical material for you.

5:15 PM – 5:45 PM: Q&A: MARC DIDDEN & HANS HYLKEMA – ‘LOST WEEKEND’
During her first European tour, in '54, Billie Holiday gave two concerts in The Netherlands. One of those was planned in Den Haag on January 31st. She already arrived in The Netherlands the day beforehand. However, the local Dutch promoter had had filled her day off with other concert obligations. That wasn't to Billie's liking and she fled in a taxi and disappeared ... only to turn up the next day, barely 15 minutes prior to the commencement of the officially announced concert.
Film-maker Marc Didden and Dutch initiator/scenarist Hans Hylkema (who previously made music documentaries on Eric Dolphy and Jan Akkerman) worked on a fictive documentary about her ‘lost weekend’ in Holland in ‘54. To find out what went on in this documentary: get yourself to the AB!