From PRX.

This is Studio 360. I'm Kurt Anderson.

I'm Jocelyn Gonzalez from Studio 360.

We're back with another installment of This Woman's Work, a series of

stories from Classic Album Sundays and Studio 360.

Classic Album Sundays is a program of community listening events, founded by Colleen Cosmo Murphy,

where fans listen to essential albums uninterrupted on state-of-the-art sound systems. For this woman's work,

we're highlighting classic albums by female artists, women who have made a lasting impact on music

and pop culture. This time, Lady Sings the Blues by jazz singer Billie Holiday. It was

released in 1956 to coincide with her autobiography of the same name.

By this point in her career, when she was just in her early 40s,

Holliday's voice was sounding fragile and worn, the toll of a life marked by hardship and addiction.

Although the more energetic sound of her earlier records is muted here, Holiday still delivers

wise and moving performances in this collection of emotional jazz tunes.

Many of the songs here became synonymous with her unique sound and persona.

Here's Colleen.

Billie Holiday remains one of the greatest jazz voices of all time and is still easily recognizable to music fans from all generations.

Lady sings the blues.

She's got them bad.

She feels so sad.

The musicians and clubs of New York City were integral to the development of jazz.

In the 1940s, Bebop was born in the Big Apple

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