Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 2, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1933
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Sony / Columbia Legacy
• ASIN: B00005Q45Y
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,412 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #96 in Music > Blues > Vocal Blues

Editorial Reviews

Lady Day: The Best Of Billie Holiday is an ideal introduction to the Voice of Jazz in all its enduring glory. This incomparable collection draws on the 10-CD boxed set Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944) (CXK 85470), representing not only her finest work, but American jazz and pop singing at its zenith. Accompanied sublimely by a Who's Who of the Swing Era (including her soulmate Lester Young, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Buck Clayton, Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Jo Jones, and pianist-arranger Teddy Wilson, who was often at the helm when Holiday entered the studio), Billie Holiday masterfully renders a host of mostly-classic pop tunes. Fans are drawn to her musical triumphs and personal tragedies. She is a mysterious icon in the same vein as Miles Davis. Columbia possesses the first and finest recordings of her entire career! This material has never sounded clearer and more intimate!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 122 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best collection of the best of early Lady Day... December 28, 2001

By J. Lund VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

In 2001, Billie Holiday's landmark recordings from the first decade of her recording career have finally been remastered for best-ever sound quality on the 10-CD boxed set. The historical value of that collection is enormous, but not all admirers of Lady Day are going to have the half-day needed to absorb everything on there. Furthermore, there are a lot of similar-sounding alternate takes on the last few discs of the box. It's a paradise for collectors, but what about those who want a smaller dose of these jazz classics?

This 2-CD anthology is the answer, providing a generous helping of memorable cuts, with an preference for high-quality songs (frankly, quite a few of the tunes on the boxed set aren't worthy of Britney Spears, let alone a peerless vocalist like Billie, albeit Lady Day is renowned for turning trite songs into art). There are other one-disc collections culled from these sessions, but I highly recommend this collection above all others--the sound quality is as good as possible, and with two discs there's enough of a sampling to give the listener a good idea of what Billie and her accompiament were up to during this era...and what they were up to revolutionized popular music!

66 of 68 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art of Artlessness May 28, 2003

By Samuel Chell HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Unless you plan to invest in the "Complete Lady Day on Columbia," this is the Billie Holiday collection either to start with or to own (if you plan to stick to one). There is much of value on Billie's later, Verve recordings, but they can't match the timeless beauty to be found on her Columbia sessions. The singular "emotion" with which Billie is identified wears best and longest when we feel it as a property of the song as much as of the singer. On the Columbia outings, it's the combination of Billie's musical talents and the strength of her "persona" that results in very possibly the most believable and influential interpretations of the "American Songbook" ever recorded. It's from these recordings that Sinatra learned his most valuable singing lessons: first, trust the material; second, establish a persona that, in the listener's mind, would be capable of experiencing the story and emotions of the song; third, make it "natural"--American popular song and singing are all about the art of artlessness.

Since I own the box set of LP's already, I settled for this "Best Of" CD version. It's a judicious selection of material, the audio quality affords slightly more "presence" to Billie's voice than on the originals, the liner notes by Gary Giddins are informative and provocative, and the photos are revealing (contrasting the early buxom, spontaneous Billie with the later posed, slimmed-down star).

Columbia-Sony has obviously invested much thought and care in the production of this package. Unlike many of my CD acquisitions, this one is not going to be played once and set aside.

88 of 97 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Great music, but... November 5, 2001

By M. Zuckerman

Format:Audio CD

These John Hammond-organized sessions are, together with the Louis Armstrong Hot Five And Seven recordings, my very favorite, and I very much wanted to love this set. The sound quality of the previous Columbia releases (Quintessential Billie Holiday, vols. 1-9) was dismal (all the hiss and crackle hamfistedly removed so that it sounded like the stereo had been stuffed under a pillow) and I was looking forward to a breakthaking upgrade. Well, the sound is a lot better, and they have not been afraid of leaving in some of the hiss, but the fact is, there are better sounding transfers out there, and at this price, there shouldn't be. I compared one track, "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," with a transfer made by John R.T. Davies, who is the master of this kind of work. On all counts -- warmth of tone, clarity, full bodied bass, realistic ambiance, and even lack of hiss -- the John R.T. transfer was better. (His transfers of the Armstrong Hot 5s and 7s for JSP was much better than Columbia's, too.) The packaging looks great, the music is great, and it costs a great deal of money. SOund quality is just good though, and that's a great shame.