Customer Reviews

Blueprint of a Lady: Sketches of Billie Holiday

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Billie Holiday and Nnenna Freelon are very accomplished jazz singers of their generations who happen to be Black women. There the similarities end. Whereas Ms. Holiday sung languidly, behind the beat, with a cool that masked (sometimes, and in varying degrees) a profound sense of personal pain, Ms. Freelon sings on the beat, vibrantly and buoyantly, and does so in many styles. Whether singing soul, funk, jazz, r & b, or cool jazz, she pulls her singing off impressively.

But all jazz singers ultimately owe a debt to Lady Day, and Ms. Freelon pays hers here, with this Grammy-nominated album. Rather than imitate or re-create Billie Holiday, she takes these compositions and willfully does them (except for "Now or Never") in a completely different way than the originals. We have "God Bless the Child" a la '70's soul; "Strange Fruit" almost as free jazz; "Them There Eyes" as cool jazz; and (believe it or not), "Willow Weep for Me" as funk, to name but four examples. These certainly are not recreations of Lady Day; they are creations and, as Ms. Freelon points out, Billie Holiday says "No two people are alike, and it's got to be that way with music, or it isn't music."

So, does this music work?

"Don't Explain" certainly does; this arrangement is outstanding. As to the rest: it's a matter of your personal taste. Ms. Freelon always sings well, and she and Nick Phillips do a fine job producing this album. The album is worthy of a Grammy nomination, although I personally would have picked a few unnominated ones from 2005 over this one.

But to me, the gold standard for reinterpretations of Lady Day is Carmen McRae's "Carmen Sings Lover Man and Other Billie Holiday Songs." To give this c.d. 5 stars is to suggest it is as good as Carmen's album. It isn't. I admire this album; I absolutely adore Carmen's, and believe it to be possibly the finest vocal jazz album ever made.

Recommended nevertheless. Ms. Freelon is a very fine singer who should be heard. RC

We love Nnenna. We love Billie. So what's not to love? In truth, this isn't simply a record of Freelon mimicking Holiday. By no means. Holiday is merely the starting point, as Freelon and her first-rate band interpret Lady Day's standards in their own inimitable way. "God Bless the Child" gets a funky beat and "Lover Man" becomes one of those late-night deejay favorites that just oozes R&B sexiness. And you haven't heard "All of Me," until Freelon infuses it with reggae flair. This is not Diana Krall jazz here, folks. This is jazz that draws you in and sits your ass in a table up front where you can soak up the vibe. If you get a chance to see Freelon live, seize it!

I like this album but I cannot play repeatedly,it's a little monotonous.
If you're looking for something truly adventurous and never boring, passionate and sensuous in the 'jazz standards' category, then,please listen to 'Lazy Afternoon' by Regina Belle.
You will never thank me enough for that :-)

Just as Diana Ross updated Lady Day for the '70s (thereby incurring harsh criticisms from Carmen McCrae among others), Nnenna Freelon has created a unique musical impression of Billie Holiday tailored to the ears of listeners in the new millennium. There's little swing (at least in terms of a 4/4 walking bass line), moments of light winking humor, or Billie's way with a ballad, singing about disillusionment, betrayal and loss while expressing a vulnerability bringing out the listener's most protective instincts. Instead, this is harmonically-altered, percussion-heavy, rhythmically-driven, at times fiery music, sometimes abandoning even the original melody altogether ("All of Me") in favor of modal textures and vamping repetition. It's in some respects a gutsy move on Nnenna's part, and I hope it pays dividends: hers is an inimitable sound, a vibrant spirit, and a creative approach. It's possible that by de-emphasizing the pathos and potentially masochistic elements implicit in the music of the original, she'll manage to catch the spirit of the times--tending more toward self-affirmation and triumph than elegy and defeat.

Still, listeners owe it to themselves to check out the original--first the Lady of the Gardenias (start with "Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday"--simply indispensable) and then maybe the late Billie of "Lady in Satin" (admittedly not for all tastes). In my experience, many listeners are shocked, even underwhelmed and disappointed, when they first hear the original. Just as they may need to work harder to hear her message, hardcore Holiday fans may need to work a bit to grasp what Nnenna as a modern artist is going after in this revisionist musical portrait. Rather than the plaintive and classic blues form of Billie's "Fine and Mellow," this is the more insistent blues thunder of stirred-up Dorian intensity.

(Listeners interested in a singer doing a spot-on impression if not occasional "impersonation" of Lady Day might wish to check out the recent Diana Ross album, "Blue." After all the flak she'd received in musical circles for the movie, this long-delayed release of material not used in the film comes as a surprising revelation.)

This is truly the sketch of NNenna herself a daring, caring and star reaching with completion. She is so versatile and creative in her vocal style that she can identify a wide range of personalities. This a true testament of an artist. this is why I am always impressed and never really sure what to expect when I listen to one of her many projects which I am always pleased. Her photographer and stylish should be commended as well for the imagery they create on each of her album covers. Thank you.

This album is just great. Nnenna ( 5 time Grammy nominee) vocal style is awesome, in full forum. Excellant arrangement, the band that backs her vocals can't be touch they are jammin. I love it, a fresh new sound as always from Nnenna...mix of R&B, jazz, gospel, latin and raggae...Nnenna have always been a master mind at what she produces and arrange. You must have this CD in your collection. Tracks I recommend, I didn't know what time it was, Now or Never, Balm in Gilead...stay #1 on 90.1 WRTI FM Radio/Philly for 8 weeks, All of me, Now or Never, What a Little Moonlight Can Do, You've Changed and Lover Man, God Bless The Child .....Nnnenna you're the Bomb....

She is much better when she sings Billy Holiday favorites. Most of these songs were never heard of before