This was definitely a period when I was deeply interested in Billie Holiday. Her songs, and her own presence, appear often in Freemprove. She is also here in program number 17, with a beautiful performance of Lady Sings the Blues. The haunting melody was written by Herbie Nichols. Billie Holiday delivers the lyrics with great confidence and sorrow. It's a clear-eyed statement about the nature of life, a stoic acceptance of fate. The more you listen to this honest performance, the more you fall in love with it.
The program also includes Eric Dolphy, playing Left Alone on the flute. This is another song written by Holiday. Dolphy is accompanied by Mal Waldron, who composed the song and was Billie Holiday’s accompanist during her final years.
Mary Halvorson
Mary grew up in Massachusetts, USA. She studied classical violin from a young age. At 17, she saw a film about Jimi Hendrix, and it changed her life. She switched to guitar and moved into the world of improvised music. One of her early guitar teachers was Yssi Rozen, an Israeli musician who moved to the United States to play jazz.
Later she studied with Anthony Braxton and played in several of his ensembles. Braxton had a strong influence on her, Her style is unique and immediately recognizable.
Bahrain to England
Yazz Ahmed is one of the most interesting figures in the British jazz scene today. At the age of nine, she emigrated with her family from Bahrain to England. During her early years of adjustment, her identity and roots were kept in the background. It was important for her to feel a sense of belonging and to fit into her new environment. But as she grew older and developed as a musician, she began to reconnect with her origins.
In her trumpet playing and in her compositions, you can hear clear influences of Arabic music, quarter tones, and authentic rhythms. In 2014, she traveled to Bahrain to explore her musical roots more deeply. She recorded on her phone pearl divers’ songs, traditional wedding songs, drumming by groups of women, and family celebrations filled with natural music: sounds created through singing and body percussion.
All of this material was later processed on the computer. Some of it found its way, in transformed form, into her compositions, while other parts became loops that she used as a basis for improvisation.
In 2025, she released an album that brings this journey together. However, in this program, Freemprove 17, we listened to a track from her earlier album, Polyhymnia.
See the full setlist below.
Broadcast on RadioSol on April 19, 2025
Brad Mehldau - Henri's Lament
Duke Ellington - Such Sweet Thunder
Yazz Ahmed - Ruby Bridges
Dave Holland - Island Feeling
Billie Holiday - Lady Sings The Blues
Eric Dolphy - Left Alone
Walter Smith III - Adam's Apple
Immanuel Wilkins - AFTERLIFE RESIDENCE TIME
Mary Halvorson - Desiderata