Cabaret is best served in an intimate setting, so the Turbine Studio at the Powerhouse was the perfect spot for cabaret diva and jazz singer Mama Alto to deliver her beautiful tribute to the iconic singer Eleanora Fagan, better known as Billie Holiday, who was born in America in 1915.
Billie Holiday’s life was as tumultuous and emotionally charged as the songs she made immortal during her 30 year career – a career that brought her international fame, untold wealth and drug addiction.
“Billie Holiday was one of the greatest jazz singers of all time, and one of my greatest inspirations,” commented Mama Alto, who describes herself as a non-binary trans-femme person of colour. “She was a captivating and complex icon, a singer, a songwriter, a musician with immense stylistic and interpretive talent, a philosopher, an activist and a figurehead, and an agent of social change through her life and her music.”
With the introduction out of the way Mama Alto launched into the first of six songs she would deliver during the show. In true cabaret style, the songs were punctuated with a moving narrative that explored the life of the extraordinary jazz vocalist who was nicknamed Lady Day by her friend and music partner Lester Young.
From a song book of hundreds, Mama Alto selected a handful of gems such as ‘Lover Man’, ‘God Bless The Child’, ‘You’ve Changed’, and 'Lady Sings The Blues' to name just a few. Mama’s voice is divine and each song is delivered with a sense of reverence that is absolutely captivating and at nearly seven feet tall, she carves an impressive figure on stage.
Accompanied by her diminutive musical director and pianist Miss Chief (aka Tiffanni Walton) Mama Alto transports the audience into another world – the world of Billie Holiday – where her soft voice and easy going banter relaxes the audience who hang on every word and note she delivers.
Mama sings like a woman who knows the pain and struggle of being different – an oddity in a world where normality is heralded and sexual fluidity is dismissed. Her commanding stage presence and charisma comes from deep within and she shares her love of music and the joy of jazz like no other.
To say she is a star would not be an exaggeration. Mama Alto is Billie Holiday and to hear her sing is to hear an angel’s voice. Don’t miss this opportunity to share in her devotion and heartfelt adoration of the greatest torch singer that ever lived.
