In it’s continuing Songbook Series, Purple Phoenix Productions is bringing the works of Billie Holiday back to life.

Often considered one of the most influential and iconic jazz vocalists of all time, Holiday’s work will be performed by Stacie Calkins at 2:30 p.m. on February 8 at the Unity Performing Arts Center inside the Unity of Bellevue building.

Calkins is slated to perform some of Holiday’s most popular tracks including, “Lover Man (Where Can You Be),” “I Cover The Waterfront,” “What A Little Moonlight Can Do,” “Them There Eyes,” “I Cried For You,” “You’ve Changed” and “Good Morning Heartache.”

The concert is also scheduled to include Holiday’s controversial classic “Strange Fruit.”

According to David Duvall, Purple Phoenix Productions’ artistic director, the 1939 recored song was originally a poem written by a Jewish writer in New York who later set to music.

“When it was brought to Billie’s attention, she initially resisted singing it because it reminded her of her father’s death,” Duvall said. “When she finally decided to sing it, her record label didn’t want her to record it because of the serious political nature of the song — a vivid description of the aftermath of a lynching.”

After it was recorded, many radio stations refused to play it, but it became a cult classic anyways as she included it in her nightclub and concert repertoire for the remainder of her career, he said.

Although held in the newly built UPAC Auditorium, the concert series is not related to the church.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com for $25 or at the door for $30. For more information contact Purple Phoenix Productions at (260)-799-6914.