Billie Holiday - Billie's Blues

Billie Holiday - Billie's Blues

Track Listing

1. Announcement By Leonard Feather

  2. Blue Moon

  3. All of Me

  4. My Man

  5. Them Their Eyes

  6. I Cried for You

  7. What a Little Moonlight Can Do

  8. I Cover the Waterfront

  9. Billie's Blues

  10. Lover Come Back to Me

  11. Blue Turning Grey Over You

  12. Be Fair With Me Baby

  13. Rocky Mountain Blues

  14. Detour Ahead

  15. Trav'Lin'light

One of the most rewarding versions of Billie's art in her later years I have heard so far. Yes, her voice is already damaged, but her impecable sense of rhythm and interpretion shines here as brightly as ever; I believe she is at her best on the faster tunes.

This is not the best Billie you'll find on the market, but it is still top class jazz, with a lot of variety, partly due to different accompanying groups - after first set with hard driving (although at times a bit pompous) trio of Drinkard,Mitchell and Leighton, Billie succesfully jams with a group starring Buddy De Franco (cl) and Red Norvo (vb) (extended versions of "Billie's blues" and "Lover come back to me").

Then there are 4 good soongs with the band led by the guitar player Tiny Grimes and one gem with Paul Whiteman's orchestra ("Trav'lin' light")...

These are mostly classical tunes, in very good to great performances, although larger audiences might not appreciate the technology that captured Billie live..