The Quintessential Billie Holiday Volume V

Billie Holiday | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: March 28, 1989
• Label: Columbia
• Copyright: Originally Released 1937, 1938 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
• Total Length: 51:48
• Genres:
• ASIN: B0013AWVB2
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,418 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the BEST Quintessential Set, February 5, 2001

By 

Peter (East of Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Vol.5: 1937-1938 (Audio CD)

This Quintessential #5 may well be the BEST one compiled during her Vocalion-Brunswick (Columbia) years, and that's saying alot considering all nine Quintessential volumes are considered classics in the jazz canon. What distinguishes this particular set is the well-chosen songs and unforgettable performances by Billie and her elite sidemen. I would be hard pressed to find a more joyful Billie than the one captured here. Maybe it's not a coincidence this set came right in the middle of her recording years at Columbia, for she had found that right balance between swing and poignancy in her performances. The earlier sets tend to swung too much while the later sets border on melancholy. This one has just the right amount of both. Billie sounds she's getting a lift from the group of men backing her on instrumentals and what a group: Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Freddie Green, Teddy Wilson. In fact you can hear the sheer joy and pleasure in Billie's singing. This was probably a very happy time in her life and she shares that with the world. Look for the standout swinger tracks: "Travelin' All Alone" "Back in Your Own Backyard" "Born to Love" and "Nice Work If You Can Get It", but really, all the tracks are classics.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Different Billie: young,vibrant and happy, December 26, 2000

By 

Sasha "lampic" (at sea...sailing somewhere) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Vol.5: 1937-1938 (Audio CD)

So many singers claim to be influenced by great Lady Day -there are countless tribute albums on the market,where different people are exploring her repertoire (from Anita O'Day,Carmen Mc Rae,Rosemary Clooney and Chet Baker to more recently Tony Bennett,even last Bryan Ferry album sounds very much like something that Billie would record with a small band in 1930's) and still nothing touches me as the real thing.All 9 volumes of her collected works for "Columbia" are stunningly beautiful,seems to me they are just going better as they progress: this one is surprisingly swinging and uplifting.People who remebers Billie only as a singer of sad,gloomy songs,should check this one:"Trav'lin All Alone","He's Funny That Way","Nice Work If You Can Get It","Can't Help Lovin That Man" - they are all melancholic but still rhythmicaly uptempo,and Teddy Wilson piano is simply breathtaking.On the other hand,in the song "Things Are Looking Up" she sounds like a little girl who is trying not to cry,while her heart is broken.Everybody who thinks that Billie Holiday is only about sadness and pain,should hear this volume 5: its different,young and vibrant woman whan she was in her prime,light years away from sad end and "Lady In Satin".

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Billie Holiday!, June 30, 2000

By 

A. Watkins "reggaetapes" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Vol.5: 1937-1938 (Audio CD)

By far my favorite Billie Holiday cd, and one of my favorite jazz cds of all time. This is Billie at her best. The combination of her beautiful voice and Lester Young's tenor make this album the perfect start for a relaxing Saturday or Sunday morning. No one will ever be able to sing about love to way Billie did!