Turning the Tables Live at Lincoln Center Out of Doors
photo by Stephanie Augello

Rhiannon Giddens, Courtney Marie Andrews & more paid tribute to women rock pioneers in NYC (pics)

Lincoln Center Out of Doors is in the midst of its 2019 season, and on Wednesday night (7/31) held the third annual edition of “Turning the Tables Live,” its partnership with NPR that “seeks to reframe the popular music canon to honor unacknowledged voices.” Wednesday night’s program, “The Motherlode,” was a jazzy, bluesy tribute to the women music pioneers who built rock and roll, including Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Rosetta Tharpe, Maybelle Carter, Mary Lou Williams, Marion Anderson, and Celia Cruz.

After an introduction from Manhattan Borough President Gayle Brewer, Amina Claudine Myers, Courtney Marie Andrews, Rhiannon Giddens, Cleo Reed, Lizz Wright, Charenee Wade, Xiomara Laugart, and Valerie Simpson, plus Felicia Collins on lead guitar and Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, performed a collection of songs that included Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit,” Marian Anderson’s “Motherless Child,” Maybelle Cater’s “You Are My Flower,” Bessie Smith’s “Dirty No Gooder’s Blues,” and more. Angela Davis also appeared and spoke about Bille Holiday, Bessie Smith, and the significance of “Strange Fruit.” Check out pictures from the whole night in the gallery above.

photos by Stephanie Augello