Lady Blackbird at SJZ Break Room Sessions at SJZ Break Room

Called “enigmatic and arresting” by The New York Times, Lady Blackbird didn’t mean to create a soundtrack for a revolution but with the release of her debut single in May 2020, she did just that.

Blues and Soul noted at the time, “It’s a brave soul indeed who not only tackles one of Nina Simone’s starkest tunes, ‘Blackbird’, but also calls herself Lady Blackbird into the bargain.” Simone released “Blackbird” in 1963, at the height of the civil rights struggle. Almost six decades later, the killing of George Floyd, two days before the release of Lady Blackbird’s version, gave this new rendition a coincidental but no less stark, awful yet uplifting power. Dubbed “the Grace Jones of jazz” by Gilles Peterson, she is touring in support of her latest album, Black Acid Soul....

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Called “enigmatic and arresting” by The New York Times, Lady Blackbird didn’t mean to create a soundtrack for a revolution but with the release of her debut single in May 2020, she did just that.

Blues and Soul noted at the time, “It’s a brave soul indeed who not only tackles one of Nina Simone’s starkest tunes, ‘Blackbird’, but also calls herself Lady Blackbird into the bargain.” Simone released “Blackbird” in 1963, at the height of the civil rights struggle. Almost six decades later, the killing of George Floyd, two days before the release of Lady Blackbird’s version, gave this new rendition a coincidental but no less stark, awful yet uplifting power. Dubbed “the Grace Jones of jazz” by Gilles Peterson, she is touring in support of her latest album, Black Acid Soul.

ladyblackbird.com

This event will be live-streamed on SJZ’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/sanjosejazz.

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