Samstag, 6. April 2019

Billie Holiday - The Commodore Master Takes

If you're a completist who insists on having everything that Billie Holiday recorded, "The Complete Commodore Recordings" is required listening. But for the more casual listener, it's best to pass on that two-CD set and stick with "The Commodore Master Takes". While "The Complete Commodore Recordings" contains all of the alternate takes that Holiday recorded for Commodore in 1939 and 1944, this collection only concerns itself with the master takes (which total 16).

Holiday never singed an exclusive contract with Commodore - she only freelanced for the label, and the ultra-influential jazz singer spent a lot more time recording for Columbia in the 1930s and early 1940s, and for Decca from 1944-1950. But her Commodore output was first-rate, and Lady Day excels whether she's joined by trumpeter Frankie Newton's octet at a 1939 session or by pianist Eddie Heywood's orchestra at three sessions in 1944.

The album gets off to an impressive start with the controversial "Strange Fruit," a bone-chilling account of lynching in the Deep South that ended up being released on Commodore because Columbia was afraid to touch it. Holiday is also quite expressive on performances that range from "Fine and Mellow," "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues" and "Yesterdays" in 1939 to "My Old Flame,"  "I'll Be Seeing You," and "He's Funny That Way" in 1944.
For those with even a casual interest in Holiday's legacy, this superb album is essential listening.


Tracklist
A1Strange Fruit
A2Yesterdays
A3Fine And Mellow
A4I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues
A5How Am I To Know
A6My Old Flame
A7I'll Get By
A8I Cover The Waterfront
B1I'll Be Seeing You
B2I'm Yours
B3Embraceable You
B4As Time Goes By
B5He's Funny That Way
B6Lover Come Back To Me
B7Billie´s Blues
B8On The Sunny Side Of The Street


Billie Holiday - The Commodore Master Takes
(224 kbps, cover art included)

5 Kommentare:

RYP hat gesagt…

Sie wäre heute 100 Jahre alt geworden! Zufällig in "zeitzeichen" - WDR 5 gehört...
Vielen Dank für die Commodore Master Takes.

Anonym hat gesagt…

Thank you for your work and ear.....Excellent.

zero hat gesagt…

You are welcome! And happy birthday to Mrs. Holiday!

switchbacktail hat gesagt…

Hey :) Could you do a reupload?

zero hat gesagt…

The link is still active, no need for a re-up. All the best!

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