Miki Sings Billie

Miki Howard | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 11, 1994)
• Original Release Date: 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000008GQ2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,934 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. What a Little Moonlight Can Do

2. I'm a Fool to Want You

3. My Man

4. Solitude

5. 'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do

6. Yesterdays

7. Now or Never

8. Don't Explain

9. Strange Fruit

10. I Want to Be Your Mother's Son-In-Law

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Tribute!!, May 23, 2004

By 

Beverly Praiswater - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Miki Sings Billie (Audio CD)

Miki Howard took on quite a task when she did this tribute album to Billie Holiday. And she did Billie some justice! This R&B diva brings her own wonderfully accomplished style to these songs, making each one unique. Yes, you've heard them before but not like this.

"I'm A Fool To Want You" is smokey. "My Man" is deep and delicious. "Solitude" and "Yesterdays" are worth the price of the whole CD! Miki's vocal on "Strange Fruit" knocked me out. Miki's "Don't Explain" is the definitive version of this song. The orchestral arrangements are full-bodied and jazzy.

If you love Miki Howard and old jazz, this one is a must for your collection.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Billie Classics With Miki's Spirit = Perfection!, November 8, 2010

By 

LuKasAV6 (Longview, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Miki Sings Billie (Audio CD)

Miki salutes Billie Holiday honorably with 'Miki Sings Billie', not by imitating her, but by using her own musicality and her own experiences to inject a lively spirit into these classics made famous by "Lady Day". Over 10 songs, Miki flows seamlessly from romance ("What A Little Moonlight") to despair ("Solitude"), from sass ("T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness") to trepidation ("Strange Fruit"). She exudes every emotion with wreckless abandon. While Miki's interpretation is different (as it should be), her rendering of "Strange Fruit" is just as haunting if not more so. It remains perhaps the greatest social commentary ever in music.

This is Miki's greatest artistic musical achievement that deserved much more attention and accolades than it received. It puts today's so-called jazz tributes to shame. Kudos to David Foster and LeMel Humes for outstanding production. Don't wait a minute longer to add this CD/mp3 album to your collection.

*Thanks to the documentary series 'Unsung' on TV One which featured Miki Howard in a wonderful expose on one of our greatest R&B singers.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best tributes to Billie Holliday ever made., January 17, 2007

By 

Justo Roteta (Los Angeles, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Miki Sings Billie (Audio CD)

I will never understand why this CD was not an across-the board success. Miki Howard pays a loving and respectful yet innovative tribute to Billie Holliday here. What I find most appealing, however, is that Miki makes most of these songs in her own way--without imitating Billie's style--and thus adds a new dimension to the originals. Classy arrangements and lush, elegant orchestrations match the mood perfectly.