Five Things You Should Know About Stella Heath

1. She has a deep and diverse history in the arts.
   Born in Novato and raised in Petaluma, Heath began singing at eight and was inspired by the Billie Holiday records in her mother’s collection. She spent the last two years of high school at Michigan’s prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy before acting studies in New York and a career as a working Shakespearean actor that took her from Florida to Beijing and all points in between. Upon returning to the Bay Area in 2014, Heath dove headlong into music, assembling a series of groups that would honor areas of early jazz that she wanted to explore and bring to audiences, from the Roma jazz of Django Reinhardt and the traditional jazz of the 1920s to the swing of the 30s and 40s and a tribute program devoted to the life and music of Billie Holiday.
2. She works in numerous configurations with an assortment of superb musicians.
   Heath leads no fewer than six different ensembles, from a duo with guitarist Ian Scherer to the sextet she brings to the Joe Henderson Lab for her From Billie Holiday to Edith Piaf concert. Her tribute projects include an intimate salute to Nat King Cole called “Stella Meets Nat,” featuring acclaimed guitarist and historian Nick Rossi, and The Billie Holiday Project, devoted to Lady Day’s early career and including pianist Neil Fontano and saxophonist Robby Elfman. Her Stella and the Starlights band is an offshoot of the Billie Holiday Project that celebrates music from the Jazz Age to the Swing Era of the 1930s, and her Bandjango Collectif performs a mix of Django Reinhardt-era Jazz Manouche, early New Orleans traditional jazz, and folk music from around the world.
3. She’s recorded four albums including her latest, the EP Just Waiting for You.
   The singer has built a career on musical diversity, and her recordings aptly demonstrate this flexibility and wide-ranging mastery of style. Her French jazz manouche project recorded their 2016 debut Sunnyside under their original moniker Oak Gypsy Band, and their self-released eponymous follow-up under the name Bandjango Collectif was issued in 2019. Heath’s collaborative 2018 album Lost in This Bliss with keyboardist and composer Sam Godin was released under the name Stellar Blue and balances pre-war classics with modern originals that retain the spirit of the 1930s and 40s. Her 2023 EP Just Waiting for You was conceived during the COVID lockdown in collaboration with Cincinnati-based blues pianist and singer Ben Levin and released on the VizzTone label. The EP was recorded with a trio including bassist Jim Anderson and drummer Art Gore and features a pair of originals and covers of material by Joe Liggins and Lucky Millinder.
4. Her Joe Henderson Lab concerts will be special.
   For her performances on 11/24-25, Heath brings her sextet to present a special program she calls “From Billie Holiday to Edith Piaf,” covering material ranging from beloved Swing Era torch songs to the chansons of the French dance hall. View a video of the band performing the 1936 Roy Ingraham and Harry Tobias tune “No Regrets,” made famous by Billie Holiday, at the Blue Note Napa in February of 2024:
   
   
5. She performs with a terrific band.
   Heath’s sextet for these performances includes accordionist and pianist Rob Reich, known widely for his work with the acclaimed band Tin Hat and the roots/Roma jazz band Gaucho, saxophonist Robby Elfman of Bay Area soul greats Royal Jelly Jive, guitarists Ian Scherer and Jimmy Grant, bassist Skyler Stover, and Neil Fontano on drums.

Stella Heath and her sextet performs her program "From Billie Holiday to Edith Piaf" in the Joe Henderson Lab 11/23-24. Tickets and more information are available here.