Billie Holiday

With the Jazz World celebrating 100 years of Lady Day’s birth, and when no new musical material seemed to be possibly added to the singer’s large and wonderful output, Uptown Records presents this collection of 2-CDs devoted to Billie, on which various previously unknown broadcast recordings come to light. The subtitle speaks about Holiday’s impossibility to work in New York clubs during most of those years, due to losing her cabaret card (a document issued by the New York police) because of her problems with drugs and alcohol.

The broadcasts present her in various different venues, in America and abroad, and with a diversity of accompanying musicians. But what’s most remarkable here, as it couldn’t be otherwise, is Billie’s voice. The program presents new versions of songs from her usual repertoire, but also a few rarities, such a 1948 Los Angeles reading of her classic but not so often recorded “Strange Fruit” (that program also includes the rarely heard “Maybe You’ll Be There”), and a 1949 version throughout and sound quality is quite good considering the rarity of these documents. An amazing discovery.

CD 1 Shrine Auditorium Concert, Los Angeles, December 14, 1948

[1-6]: Billie Holiday
BILLIE HOLIDAY (voc)
BOBBY TICKER (p)
JOHN LEVY (b)
PHIL HAVER (d)

[7-13]: Red Norvo All Stars
RED NORVO (vib)
NEAL HEFTI (tp)
HERBIE STEWARD (cl, ts)
JIMMY ROWLES (d)
ROBERT "IGGY" SHEVAK (b)
ROY "BLINKE" GAMER (d)

[14-18]: Billie Holiday with Her Trio & Red Norvo All Stars
RED NORVO (vib)
NEAL HEFTI (tp)
HERBIE STEWARD (cl, ts)
JIMMY ROWLES (p)
ROBERT "IGGY" SHEVAK (b)
ROY "BLINKIE" GARNER (d)
BILLIE HOLIDAY (voc)
BOBBY TUCKER (p)
JOH LEVY (b)
PHIL HAVER (d)

CD 2

[1-2] BILLIE HOLIDAY (voc), CARL DRINKARD (p)
The Frank Brookhouser Show, WFIL-TV, Philadelphia, January 30, 1951

[3-10] BILLIE HOLIDAY (voc), CARL DRINKARD (p), RED MITCHELL (b), ELAINE LEIGHTON (d)
“Jazz Club USA” Tour in France, Palais de Breaux Arts, Brussels, January 24, 1954

[11-15] BILLIE HOLIDAY (voc), CARL DRINKARD (p), JIMMIE WOODE (b), MARQUIS FOSTER (d)
The Hit Hat, Boston, MA., March 7, 1954

[16-18] BILLIE HOLIDAY (voc) Band Perssonel Not Identified
The Steve Allen Tonight Show. NBC-TV, NYC, February 10, 1956

[19-22] BILLIE HOLIDAY (voc), CORKY HALE (p), JULES MERTAU (b), BOB NEEL (d)
Stars of Jazz TV Program, KABC-TV, Los Angeles, CA, August 13, 1956

[23-24] BILLIE HOLIDAY (voc), PAUL QUINICHETTE (ts), CARL MARK (p)
SAM SAFFINI (b), DOMINIC SIMONETTA (d)
NBC Monitor Broadcast from Mister Kelly’s, Chicago IL, March 24, 1957


TRACKLIST

CD 1
01. Good Morning Heartache
02. Lover Man
03. You’re Driving Me Crazy
04. Maybe You’ll Be There
05. I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone
06. Strange
07. Russian Lullaby
08. Bop !
09. Sealed witn A Kiss
10. Medley: Embraceable You / Unidentified Bass Feature
11. Laura
12. Adios
13. The Man I Love
14. My Man
15. Miss Brown to You
16. Them There Eyes
17. No More 18. I Love My Man

CD 2
01. Lover Man
02. Miss Brown to You
03. He’s Funny That Way
04. All of Me
05. My Man
06. Them There Eyes
07. I Cried For You
08. Don’t Explain
09. Fine and Mellow
10. What A Little Moonlight Can Do
11. Blue Moon
12. All Of Me
13. Tenderly
14. Them There Eyes
15. Wollow Weep For Me
16. Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone
17. Steve Allen Interview
18. I Don’t Stand A Ghost Of A Chance with You
19. Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone
20. I Love My Man
21. My Man
22. Sign Off
23. Good Morning Heartache
24. You Better Go Now