... aspiring singers today, Holiday had a singular voice steeped in aching emotion and fueled by an uncanny sense of swing. She not only stamped her distinctive signature on such standards as "Night And Day," but she also contributed remarkable originals to the jazz canon, including "Strange Fruit" and "God Bless The Child." Influenced by Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong, Holiday not only ... their name. It had become a hot spot that songwriters, producers, promoters and agents hung out. An agent named Joe Glaser heard Billie sing and signed her on the spot. After a short spur of prostituti...

• Word Count: 690
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... to instrumental accompaniment"), (Ella Fitzgerald, Encarta). She was born in Newport News, Virginia, Fitzgerald later moved wit her mother and stepfather to Yonkers, a suburb of New York City. Fitzgerald first dream was to become a dance. But she was later inspired by the voice of Conne Boswell, who performed in a vocal trio. As a teenager she won numerous amateur talent contest at Harlem ... ...

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... feeling. The Roaring Twenties was also known as the Jazz Age and the Era of Wonderful Nonsense due to the many fads, or styles or activities that are popular for short amounts of time, that ran through the nation. Fads of the Roaring Twenties included Flagpole sitting, the dance marathon, and a Chinese game, Mah-jongg. Large pursuers of these crazy fads ... were women called Flappers. Flappers were against traditional ways of thinking and acting and did anything to be different. They wore their hair bobbed, and their dresses short. They wore makeup, smoked in public and drank in speakea...

• Word Count: 909
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... . Out of all these changes, possibly one of the most drastic was that of the women. As sex became more popular and common, the women started to cut their hair short, smoke cigarettes, drink booze, and show a lot more skin than before. They wanted to become more desireable. These women became known as flappers. When searching the website, http://www.pandorasbox ... , there are some great pictures that immediately show up on the screen. These pictures show just how life back then was for women. There are pictures of women dancing with short hair and a lot of makeup covering their face. This...

• Word Count: 848
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... first heard recordings of Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. These were to be her biggest influences. It was right around this time she began singing at after hour's clubs. One night she auditioned as a dancer. While she couldn't dance, the club owner asked her what else she could do instead. She told him that she also sang a little. She performed a couple ... ...

• Word Count: 616
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... that Louis Armstrong was "a hard-working kid who helped support his mother and sister by working every type of job there was, including going out on the street corners at night to sing for coins." By the time he was the age of seven, he was able to buy his first horn, which was a cornet. At just the tender young age ... ...

• Word Count: 442
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... began to play in small cafes and other venues such as clubs around town with the band he had started the Duke's Serenaders. It was when Duke was just months short of his high school graduation that he married Edna Tompson, moved into a house with her that he had bought, and dropped out of high school. In order to pay for ... ...

• Word Count: 942
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School