Tuesday, 28 August 2007

Billie Holiday - The Complete Billie Holiday On Verve, 1945-1959 [BOX SET]

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This is a rather incredible collection: ten CDs enclosed in a tight black box that includes every one of the recordings Verve owns of Billie Holiday, not only the many studio recordings of 1952-57 (which feature Lady Day joined by such jazz all-stars as trumpeters Charlie Shavers and Harry "Sweets" Edison, altoist Benny Carter, and the tenors of Flip Phillips, Paul Quinichette and Ben Webster). Also included are prime performances at Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts in 1945-1947, an enjoyable European gig from 1954, her "comeback" Carnegie Hall concert of 1956, Holiday's rather sad final studio album from 1959, and even lengthy tapes from two informal rehearsals. It's a perfect purchase for the true Billie Holiday fanatic. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
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Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit by MonsieurBaudelaire
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That's right: Ten CDs with everything Billie Holiday recorded on Verve Records between 1945 and her death in 1959--not only the songs, but concert introductions, some of the rehearsals, and between-take studio chatter, too. All of which makes for a definitive portrait of Lady Day in her final years. For a long time these recordings were disparaged because it was said her voice was no longer fine and mellow, "ravaged" by hard living, jail time, booze, and drugs. And there's no question that her later tone is darker, more brittle and unstable than it had been in the '30s--but somehow I find myself listening to this music more often than those Brunswick/Columbia or Decca sides, anyway. Like Frank Sinatra, who so often paid tribute to her influence, Holiday's artistry was never based on virtuosity; it was about interpretation, bringing out the emotions in a song and giving a personal reading. She never stopped doing that, and for all the "strange fruit" you'll find in this collection, it's a gold mine. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
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Download (Rapidshare)
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- Billie Holiday - The Blues Are Brewin' by peagahairy

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

thank you for this titanic job you did!

please, visit my place. the only thing i can offer

thank you

Rich1202 said...

Thank you for the great Billie Holiday set, but the link for Part 1 doesn't seem to work... any chance to re-up?
Thanks.