Corky Hale, Jazz Harpist, 2: My Interview About Billie Holiday and More

Last time I introduced you to harpist/pianist/singer/flutist Corky Hale. In March or April 2016 she agreed to speak with me and my graduate students on Skype. This was part of a seminar I taught on Billie Holiday, and Hale was one of the few still alive who had performed with her, so naturally we discussed Billie. But of course we were interested in Hale more generally, so we also discussed her support of Democratic candidates, her work with a variety of singers before and after Holiday, and much more.

She took questions from my graduate students at the time—trumpeter Matt Lavelle, flutist Elise Wood, singer Cherise Harris—as well as a greeting from Leslie Haynes (Roy’s daughter, now working on a Ph.D.). You will also hear from photographer and bassist Bill May (who jokingly refers to himself as the “youngest”), and archivist Tad Hershorn, author of the Norman Granz biography.

If you’d like to see a Zoom interview with Corky, here is a great one online from 2021. An audio interview from early 2022 is online as well, and she felt that the host, Steve Cuden, is a “wonderful interviewer.”

All the best,
Lewis