Billie Holiday’s life is the stuff of jazz
legend. She rose from poverty and abuse to become one of the biggest stars of
jazz during the Thirties and Forties. Holiday
was a great singer who did not possess a great voice. She employed her voice like
a horn player would his horn, and had a reputation for taking mediocre songs
and transforming them into greatness. Her singing style was influenced by
Bessie Smith’s singing and Louis Armstrong’s trumpet playing. Fellow jazz musicians
referred to her as simply, “Lady Day.”
Holiday was born in Baltimore , Maryland Hammond
Despite being offered only mediocre
material to record, she was supported by some of the finest musicians in jazz,
including pianist Teddy Wilson and saxophonist, Lester Young, who would coin
her “Lady Day” and become her closest friend and musical collaborator.
In 1937, Holiday
toured with the Count Basie Orchestra and later joined Artie Shaw’s Orchestra.
She stayed with Columbia Records until 1942, only leaving once for the
Commodore label with which she recorded the classic and searing song about
lynching, “Strange Fruit.” In 1942, she signed with Decca records and later
ended up recording for Verve. One of her last sessions with Columbia
In the late Forties,Holiday
was convicted of heroin possession and spent several months in prison. Due to
the conviction, she was unable to obtain a cabaret card, making it impossible
for her to find work in New York City New York
In the late Forties,
Holiday’s best recordings can be found on
the following collections: “Lady Sings the Blues” (1956), “Songs for Distingue
Lovers” (1958), “Lady in Satin” (1958), “The Billie Holiday Story” (1959), “The
Golden Years” (1962), “Billie Holiday’s Greatest Hits” (1967), “Lady Day: The
Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944)” (2001), “Lady Day: The Best of
Billie Holiday” (2001), “The Ultimate Collection” (2005), and “Lady Day: The
Master Takes and Singles” (2007).
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| Lady Day |
