Billie’s Blues

by | Jun 1, 2024 | Big Band, Vocal

The perfect musical storm descended upon at CBS Studio 58 in New York City, on December 8, 1957. The chemistry among the musicians––between each other and with the vocalist––radiated a rare magic that occurs only when the stars are in utopian alignment. And the incredible Billie Holiday was at her bluesy best!

She was backed by a band featuring such legends as Doc Cheatham, Roy Eldridge, and Joe Newman on trumpets; Bob Brookmeyer on trombone; Jimmy Giuffre playing clarinet; Earle Warren on alto; Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Lester Young playing tenors; Gerry Mulligan was on baritone; Freddie Green and Jim Hall played guitars; Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Nat Pierce, and Mal Waldron played pianos for the session; Milt Hinton, was on bass; Papa Jo Jones and Osie Johnson alternated on drums.

Billie Holiday was Fine and Mellow (My Man Don’t Love Me).

A Day With Lady Day

by | May 30, 2021 | Vocal

God Bless The Child was written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. in 1939. It was first recorded in May 1941 by Billie and released in 1942. Her version of the song was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1976.

After being heard by producer John Hammond, who liked her voice, Holiday signed a contract with Brunswick Records in 1935. Collaborations with Teddy Wilson produced the standard What a Little Moonlight Can Do.

Billie Holiday’s best-selling record Strange Fruit was a sombre blues account of racism in the South. In 1939 Time Magazine derided the song as propaganda for the NAACP. ironically, 60 years later Time selected it as ‘song of the century’!

Diana Ross Sings Billie Holiday

by | Nov 22, 2019 | Vocal

Her true versatility is on full display as Diana Ross moves seamlessly from R&B to jazz in the 1972 motion picture Lady Sings The Blues … the life story of the legendary Billie Holiday. My Man is one of the featured songs.

Riding atop the power of a big band, with All Of Me Diana shows she can swing with the best of them, in addition to melting your heart with her poignant approach to a ballad.

Give Me A Pig Foot And A Bottle Of Beer is a familiar Billie Holiday song that unquestionably distances Diana Ross far from her original Motown days with The Supremes.

God Bless The Child (That’s Got His Own) has been recorded by several top artists but NOBODY ever did it like Billie Holiday … although Diana comes pretty darn close.  Another tune featured in Lady Sings The Blues.

My Man / Fine and Mellow – Billie Holiday

by | Jul 26, 2019 | Vocal

My Man is another intoxicating performance by Billie Holiday, assisted by Jimmy Rowles at the piano. Her message is delivered with all of the raw honesty that made her so beloved.  As nearly as I can determine, this rendition was recorded in the late 50s or early 60s.

Fine and Mellow was recorded in 1957 together with Billie’s All Star Big Band.  While a big band doesn’t generally lend itself to a feeling of intimacy, there is no denying Holiday’s ability to rise above the power of all those instruments and pull you up close.

“New Orleans” – Billie Holiday & Louis Armstrong

by | Aug 11, 2017 | Video, Vocal

Here are three classic musical performances by Lady Day and Satchmo Armstrong from the 1947 motion picture “New Orleans”.  The film is a tribute to the birth of jazz, and also features Woody Herman along with some of music’s greatest legends.  The video at the top is The Blues Are Brewin’ with Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans at the lower left and Dixie Music Man on the lower right.