Some songs don’t just land—they arrive with a little starlight on their shoulders. Ledisi’s radiant take on “What a Dif or.ference a Day Made” is one of those moments: a gleaming, time-slipping conversation between two towering Black women in American music—today’s GRAMMY-winning vocal dynamo and yesterday’s indomitable “Queen” who opened the do

The single, out now, is the first taste of Ledisi’s new album For Dinah—a lovingly crafted tribute to Dinah Washington—arriving Friday, October 3, 2025, on Candid Records. The timing couldn’t be sweeter: August 29, 2025, marks what would have been Washington’s 101st birthday. Consider this release a birthday bouquet from one queen to another. 

Dinah Washington: The Original Standard Setter

Before playlists and algorithms, Dinah Washington curated the American songbook in real time—swinging through jazz clubs, bending the blues, and scaling pop charts with a signature mix of bite and velvet. Her 1959 recording of “What a Difference a Day Made” earned a GRAMMY for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance, later landing in the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. It also gave Washington her first Top-10 pop hit, proving what Houston already knows in its bones: great voices refuse to stay in one lane. 

Ledisi’s Love Letter—Arranged for Right Now

Ledisi’s version doesn’t imitate; it interprets—opening with cinematic hush, then lifting into a sunrise of brass, strings, and a lead vocal that glides, testifies, and test-drives every curve in the melody. Co-produced by Christian McBride—yes, that Christian McBride—and longtime collaborator Rex Rideout, the project surrounds Ledisi with elite company: a buttery duet with Gregory Porter, guitar sorcery from Paul Jackson Jr., and keys from rising ace Michael King.

This isn’t nostalgia; it’s restoration. Ledisi is reclaiming a chapter of women’s musical leadership often summarized in footnotes. As she’s said plainly, “Before there was Aretha, there was Dinah.” The point lands: Washington’s fearlessness—sonic, sartorial, and entrepreneurial—gave permission for generations of artists to sing out, dress boldly, lead bands, and demand excellence.

A Houston-Ready Resonance

Houston’s jazz lineage—those late-night rooms, those church-trained runs, those brass-bright marching bands—makes this tribute feel local. Our readers grew up on voices that could both shout the blues and hush a sanctuary. Ledisi’s tribute taps that same electricity: elegant, grown, and joyously unbothered by genre borders.

Fresh off a European run, Ledisi brings For Dinah to U.S. stages this fall, including an album-release performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on October 3. Expect a set that pairs satin-glove standards with Ledisi’s own catalog of modern classics. 

Why This Record Matters

History, held in the present tense. Ledisi bridges Dinah’s catalog to a new audience without sanding down the edges that made Washington iconic.

Black women in command. From the bandstand to the boardroom, Dinah modeled artistic authority. Ledisi carries that banner—stylish, strategic, and absolutely centered.

Craft with consequence. When great players meet great songs under smart production, the result is music that lasts—exactly the legacy that Dinah built and Ledisi extends.

Buy the album: Support independent record shops and Candid Records’ digital store.

See it live: Check Ledisi’s official channels for tour dates and tickets. 

Share the story: Tag @HoustonStyle and celebrate Dinah Washington’s 101st with your favorite track

Bottom line: This is more than a cover. It’s a conversation across time—Dinah Washington’s unflinching brilliance meeting Ledisi’s master-level artistry. Houston, cue it up. Some differences really do happen in a day.