This Is Jazz, Vol. 32: Billie Holiday Sings Standards

Billie Holiday | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 28, 1998)
• Original Release Date: April 28, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000062F0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,423 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Billie's Cream of the Crop, December 22, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: This Is Jazz, Vol. 32: Billie Holiday Sings Standards (Audio CD)

This CD captures the essence of Billie Holiday's greatness--her timing, swing, improvisation, delivering the core truth of each song with a balanced care to both lyrics and emotional impact. Those are just SOME what made Billie an enduring beloved singer in the minds (and ears) of her legions of fans. Songs are well-chosen, not one clunker in the entire bunch. At first I was disappointed with the 2 selections from "Lady in Satin" when her voice technically had declined to a croak, to pardon the expression. Still the emotional interpretation leaves no heart unstirred as she commands the listener's attention to the love unrequited kind only Billie knew how to deliver in song. Overall, the songs are picked from Billie's golden age of late 1930s. Sound remastering is done to a very good standard, though some hisses are still evident but clarity is excellent considering when these songs were recorded. Each time brings new meaning and nuance listening to this CD, not to mention a smile on the swing songs and a tear on the torchy ones. A must have for all of Billie's fans!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Songs The Way They Should Be Sung: By Billie Holiday, August 17, 2000

By 

Blair Lambert (Provo, Utah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: This Is Jazz, Vol. 32: Billie Holiday Sings Standards (Audio CD)

This album is a must-have, even if it is a best-of collection. With such classics as "Them There Eyes", "Summertime", and "They Can't Take That Away From Me" this album should issued to everybody through the mail or given out in public schools. It is a good comprehensive view of Lady Day all the way to her last album "Lady In Satin" which two songs (I'm a Fool to Want You and You Don't Know What Love Is) come from. On more than one occasion I have used "Them There Eyes" and "The Very Thought of You" as selections that I have serenaded girls with. In every instance they evoke a look of admiration in the young females eyes. If these songs can evoke that type of response coming out of my mouth, they have to be spectacular coming out of one of the greatest female vocalists ever.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astoundingly good, September 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: This Is Jazz, Vol. 32: Billie Holiday Sings Standards (Audio CD)

There are way too many Billie Holiday retrospectives out there of lesser quality. But this CD really is a "best of" collection. Most of the recordings are from the late 1930s, when Holiday was at the height of her powers, before depression and drug use began to destroy her. Don't let the old sound turn you off, however. Just listen to the way she plays with the "them... there... EY-es!" phrase on the first track. Her intelligence, humor, emotional honesty, and ability to flat-out swing on these tunes will make you a believer.