Marlonius Jazz Orchestra and Mara Kaye to Pay Tribute to Billie Holiday at Sierra Madre Playhouse
The Brooklyn vocalist and bassist-composer Marlonius perform Holiday's emotional delivery and revolutionary phrasing.
Jazz and blues vocalist Mara Kaye will join the Marlonius Jazz Orchestra, led by virtuosic bassist/composer Marlonius (who goes by a single name), to celebrate the iconic musical legacy of Billie Holiday, on Sunday, November 8, 2026, 8:00 PM, at Sierra Madre Playhouse. Holiday, known as Lady Day, is considered one of history's greatest jazz singers, inspiring generations of artists with her raw emotional delivery and revolutionary phrasing mimicking a horn player by bending notes and shifting rhythms.
Kaye, herself, has been proclaimed “one of New York's great gifts to the world… (with) a substantial stage presence…and a voice that matches her larger-than-life presence (Jazz Lives). She performs jazz and blues standards with a deep passion and respect for the music's original storytellers. The Brooklyn native, who has shared her artistry around the globe from Moscow to Lincoln Center, brings to the stage the emotional power and swing of Billie Holiday and the sorrows and joys of Bessie Smith. Blues legend Jimmy Vivino compared Kaye's voice to “Louis Armstrong's trumpet at a rent party.”
Marlonius is noted for filtering his classical chops and a deep jazz sensibility through a keen modern creative vision. A product of the Colburn Conservatory of Music, he studied classical bass and orchestral performance before evolving into a leading voice in the LA's jazz community. Marlonius is the founder and artistic director of the Marlonius Jazz Orchestra, which performs his original compositions and compelling reinterpretations of jazz classics. He has toured and collaborated with a remarkable range of artists, including Stewart Copeland, Mike Garson, and Quatuor Ebène, and continues to bridge genres, instrumentation and musical cultures with his work.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Artist
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