Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts > Our Mission > News > Jazz musicians celebrate the life and music of Billie Holiday

Jazz musicians celebrate the life and music of Billie Holiday

Five person jazz band performing on a black riser stage under two white tents. There are black speakers flanking the stage and there is a white horizontal banner at the front of the stage that reads "The Billie Holiday Project for Liberation Arts presents 'Jazz on the Square' Annual Billie Holiday Jazz Concert at Lafayette Square Park."

Written By MICHELLE LIMPE and REBECCA MURATORE | September 18, 2021  | The Johns Hopkins News-Letter

With the legendary impact left behind by jazz singer Billie Holiday, it is only fitting that her native city continues to uphold her legacy and celebrate her music. 

In honor of Holiday, the University’s Billie Holiday Project for Liberation Arts (BHPLA) hosted its third annual “Jazz in the Square” event on Sept. 11. The concert, held at Lafayette Square Park, featured The Nasar Abadey Quartet and Grammy-nominated artist Maimouna Youssef, better known by her stage name Mumu Fresh. Other Baltimore-based jazz musicians, including students from the Peabody Institute, also performed during the event.

Lawrence Jackson, director of BHPLA, emphasized the significance of the event in an interview with The News-Letter. 

“We want to recover and pay homage to what we call America’s native classical music, jazz music,” Jackson said. “Baltimore is one of the premier sites for the creation of jazz music and we want to make sure that we’re honoring it right.”

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