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BILLIE HOLIDAY

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday Sings - 2024 Reissue

    After an impasse recording with tightly arranged groups and big bands with strings, Billie Holiday signed her last long-term contract with Norman Granz. He had showcased her as a star with his Jazz at the Philharmonic tours in the mid and late forties, and when he signed her as a recording artist in 1952, he endeavoured to repeat the small group magic of her early years.On Billie Holiday Sings , she is backed by an all- star sextet including Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Flip Phillips on tenor sax, Oscar Peterson on piano, and Barney Kessel on guitar, among others.

    TRACK LISTING

    I Only Have Eyes For You
    You Turned The Tables On Me
    Blue Moon 
    Solitude
    Blue Turning Gray Over You
    Be Fair With Me Baby [Aka Be Fair To Me]
    These Foolish Things
    Easy To Love
    You Go To My Head
    East Of The Sun
    Rocky Mountain Blues
    Detour Ahead

    Billie Holiday

    All Or Nothing At All - 2024 Reissue

      All or Nothing at All is a studio album from 1958 on Norman Granz's Verve Records label

      Featuring twelve songs taken from five different recording sessions that took place in 1956 and 1957, a period when some thought Billie Holiday was in vocal decline, a thought not shared by Mile Davis it must be said:

      "I'd rather hear [Billie Holiday] now. She's become more mature. Sometimes you can sing words every night for five years, and all of a sudden it dawns on you what the song means.... So with Billie, you know she's not thinking now what she was in 1937, and she's probably learned more about different things. And she still has control, probably more control now than she did back then. No, I don't think she's in decline."-- MILES DAVIS, 1958.

      "For these sessions, Granz assembled a wonderful group of musicians who shined as much when backing Holiday as they did on their solos. The front line was covered by Harry Edison and Ben Webster, both longtime friends of Holiday and each a specialist in accompanying vocalists. Holiday's pianist was the exceptionally sensitive Jimmy Rowles, who had rehearsed the songs with Holiday before the sessions. Barney Kessel provided both harmonic and melodic support on guitar, and the rhythm section was filled out with Red Mitchell and Joe Mondragon alternating on bass, and Al Stoller and Larry Bunker swapping duties on drums. All of these musicians were based in LA at the time and had all worked together, so the fine ensemble playing was a given, and the group easily put together all of the arrangements on the recording dates." - AllMusic: Jim Lennon May 6, 2022

      TRACK LISTING

      Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
      Cheek To Cheek
      Ill Wind
      Speak Low
      I Wished On The Moon
      But Not For Me
      All Or Nothing At All
      We'll Be Together Again
      Sophisticated Lady
      April In Paris
      Say It Isn't So
      Love Is Here To Stay
      Moonlight In Vermont

      Billie Holiday

      Songs For Distingue Lovers - 2023 Reissue

        The first popular jazz singer to move audiences with the intense, personal feeling of classic blues, Billie Holiday (1915-1959) changed the art of American pop vocals forever. Songs for Distingue Loversis one of the best albums from her late period and finds her surrounded by important instrumentalists, such as Ben Webster and Harry "Sweets" Edison.

        The album received a four-star rating in Down Beat upon its release: "This is one of those loose, utterly relaxed sessions where the rhythm section is settled in a happy groove behind the singer and the horn players are left free to say their piece without the restriction of short takes. Miss Holiday remainsthe unique stylist, still incomparable."- John A. Tynan

        TRACK LISTING

        1. Day In, Day Out 6:49
        2. A Foggy Day 4:40
        3. Stars Fell On Alabama 4:32
        4. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) 5:42
        5. Just One Of Those Things 5:33
        6. I Didn't Know What Time It Was 6:02
        7. Body And Soul 6:26
        8. They Can't Take That Away From Me 4:14
        9. Darn That Dream 6:23
        10. Let's Call The Whole Thing Off 3:26
        11. Comes Love 4:00
        12. Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You 5:41
        13. Embraceable You 6:49
        14. Moonlight In Vermont 3:53

        Billie Holiday

        Lover Man

          Billie Holiday is heard at her absolute best on this album. For these Decca sessions, Billie was accompanied by strings and large studio orchestras for the first time in her career. Her voice was at its strongest during the 1940s, and among the many high points here are her original versions of 'Lover Man' (Holiday's biggest selling record), 'Don't Explain', and 'Good Morning Heartache'. Holiday's work here is often melancholy and resigned in the extreme, with sterling treatments of forlorn songs, such as 'You Better Go Now', and 'What Is This Thing Called Love?'.

          TRACK LISTING

          Easy Living
          There Is No Greater Love
          Deep Song
          Guilty
          The Blues Are Brewin'
          I'll Look Around
          Baby I Don't Cry Over You
          Big Stuff
          No Good Man
          Good Morning Heartache
          What Is This Thing Called Love
          You Better Go Now
          Don't Explain
          That Ole Devil Called Love
          No More
          Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)

          Billie Holiday

          Lady Sings The Blues

            'A masterpiece, as fresh and shocking as if it were written yesterday' Craig Brown"I've been told that no one sings the word 'hunger' like I do. Or the word 'love'."Lady Sings the Blues is the inimitable autobiography of one of the greatest icons of the twentieth century. Born to a single mother in 1915 Baltimore, Billie Holiday had her first run-in with the law at aged 13.

            But Billie Holiday is no victim. Her memoir tells the story of her life spent in jazz, smoky Harlem clubs and packed-out concert halls, her love affairs, her wildly creative friends, her struggles with addiction and her adventures in love. Billie Holiday is a wise and aphoristic guide to the story of her unforgettable life.

            Billie Holiday

            The Essential Billie Holiday: Carnegie Hall Concert Recorded Live

              Part of the motivation behind the 1956 Carnegie Hall concert was to promote Billie's autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues. The music was attuned entirely to Billie's character part, reinforced by readings from her book by Gilbert Millstein. Although recorded in 1956, the LP was only issued in 1961, almost two years after Billie's passing on July 17, 1959, at the age of 44.

              Billie Holiday, vocals
              Roy Eldridge, trumpet
              Coleman Hawkins, tenor sax
              Carl Drinkard, piano
              Tony Scott, clarinet (piano on Lady Sings the Blues only)
              Carson Smith, bass
              Chico Hamilton, drums
              Gilbert Millstein, readings from the book Lady Sings the Blues

              Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, November 10, 1956.

              TRACK LISTING

              Oh, What A Little Moonlight Can Do
              I Cover The Waterfront
              Fine And Mellow
              I Cried For You
              My Man
              Reading From Lady Sings The Blues
              I'll Be Seeing You
              Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
              Yesterdays
              Don't Explain
              Reading From Lady Sings The Blues
              Body And Soul
              Billie's Blues
              Reading From Lady Sings The Blues
              Travelin Light With Reading
              It Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do
              Lady Sings The Blues
              Reading From Lady Sings The Blues

              Billie Holiday

              Lady Sings The Blues

                Almost 45 years have passed since the death of 'Lady Day'. About 50 years ago she could be seen and heard in just a few rare concerts outside the USA. Alcohol, drugs, affairs and racial discrimination in the USA had all left their mark on her and only her voice served as a reminder of her great successes. It is thanks to Norman Granz that Billie Holiday signed a new, lucrative contract with Verve / Clef in the early Fifties. He drew the very best musicians into the studio and paid for excellent arrangers so that Billie had an opportunity to sing her old songs once again and record them for posterity in the very best sound quality. Recorded between 1954 and 1956, "Lady Sings The Blues" features some of her best-loved jazz-blues numbers, including a never-bettered version of "Strange Fruit", "Good Morning Heartache", "Trav'lin' Light", "I Must Have That Man", "God Bless the Child" and the fantastic title track of course. Holiday is at her heart-rending best here, her voice cracking with emotion and pain at times, which only adds to the brilliance of this set, and the amazing remastering means we get to hear every drum brush stroke and every horn note as well. Wonderful.

                TRACK LISTING

                Trav'lin' Light
                I Must Have That Man!
                Some Other Spring
                Lady Sings The Blues
                Strange Fruit
                God Bless The Child
                Good Morning, Heartache
                No Good Man
                Love Me Or Leave Me
                Too Marvelous For Words
                Willow Weep For Me
                I Thought About You
                P.S. I Love You

                Billie Holiday

                1937-1958: The Essential Works

                  Lady Day was born under the name of Eleanora Fagan. How much suffering does it take to express love, pain, despair, or even life itself? Few singers have communicated emotions like Billie Holiday. Her father, a jazz guitarist, wouldn’t recognise her and so refused to give his daughter his name. He was more interested in nightlife than in family life. Billie’s mother was a cleaner, cook and occasional prostitute who abandoned her daughter to the care of her aunts or a reformatory. Billie had a life of violence that commonly included rape and physical abuse of all kinds.

                  In between prostitution, prison and a few gigs in sordid dives where a customer’s generosity was her only means of support, Billie managed to record for Columbia when she was only nineteen. It was the beginning of a recognition that never waned over the years.

                  Few voices of the past eight decades were as capable of moving the hearts of those who loved female singers in the same way as Billie Holiday.

                  TRACK LISTING

                  SIDE A
                  1. All Of Me
                  2. When You’re Smiling
                  3. If Dreams Come
                  4. The Man I Love
                  5. Getting Some Fun Out Of Life
                  6. Time On My Hands
                  7. The Very Thought Of You
                  SIDE B
                  1. My Man
                  2. Jim
                  3. Solitude
                  4. Georgia On My Mind
                  5. Lover Man
                  6. Am I Blue ?
                  7. I’ll Be Seeing You
                  SIDE C
                  1. Now Or Never
                  2. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
                  3. Blue Moon
                  4. Remember
                  5. Sugar
                  6. Them There Eyes
                  7. Lover Come Back To Me
                  SIDE D
                  1. Love Me Or Leave Me
                  2. Willow Weep For Me
                  3. I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
                  4. Cheek To Cheek
                  5. All Or Nothing At All
                  6. I’m A Fool To Want You

                  Billie Holiday

                  Lady Sings The Blues

                    Almost 45 years have passed since the death of 'Lady Day'. About 50 years ago she could be seen and heard in just a few rare concerts outside the USA. Alcohol, drugs, affairs and racial discrimination in the USA had all left their mark on her and only her voice served as a reminder of her great successes. It is thanks to Norman Granz that Billie Holiday signed a new, lucrative contract with Verve / Clef in the early Fifties. He drew the very best musicians into the studio and paid for excellent arrangers so that Billie had an opportunity to sing her old songs once again and record them for posterity in the very best sound quality. Recorded between 1954 and 1956, "Lady Sings The Blues" features some of her best-loved jazz-blues numbers, including a never-bettered version of "Strange Fruit", "Good Morning Heartache", "Trav'lin' Light", "I Must Have That Man", "God Bless the Child" and the fantastic title track of course. Holiday is at her heart-rending best here, her voice cracking with emotion and pain at times, which only adds to the brilliance of this set, and the amazing remastering means we get to hear every drum brush stroke and every horn note as well. Wonderful.

                    TRACK LISTING

                    1 Lady Sings The Blues 3:44
                    2 Trav'lin' Light 3:13
                    3 I Must Have That Man 3:07
                    4 Some Other Spring 3:38
                    5 Strange Fruit 3:09
                    6 No Good Man 3:26
                    7 God Bless The Child 3:59
                    8 Good Morning Heartache 3:32
                    9 Love Me Or Leave Me 2:36
                    10 Too Marvelous For Words 2:18
                    11 Willow Weep For Me 3:15
                    12 I Thought About You 2:52


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