Recital (Mono Remastered) Billie Holiday

• 1 If The Moon Turns Green 02:48
• 2 Remember 02:37
• 3 Autumn In New York 03:44
• 4 My Man 02:37
• 5 Lover, Come Back To Me 03:35
• 6 Stormy Weather 03:43
• 7 Yesterdays 02:51
• 8 He's Funny That Way 03:12
• 9 I Can't Face The Music 03:15
• 10 How Deep Is The Ocean? 03:00
• 11 What A Little Moonlight Can Do 03:14
• 12 I Cried For You 02:27
• Total Runtime 37:03

Info zu Recital (Mono Remastered)

Heute sind fast 45 Jahre vergangen, dass “Lady Day” gestorben ist. Vor fast genau 50 Jahren war sie bei einigen wenigen Konzerten außerhalb der USA zu sehen und zu hören. Gezeichnet vom Alkohol, anderen Drogen, den Affären und der Rassendiskriminierung in den USA war ihre Stimme nur eine Erinnerung an große Erfolge.

Norman Granz ist es zu verdanken, dass er Billie Holiday in den frühen 50iger Jahren einen neuen, gut dotierten Vertrag unterschreiben ließ, die besten Sidemen ins Studio einlud, Arrangeure bezahlte und ihr Gelegenheit bot, die alten Songs erneut zu singen, um so das Können dieser großen Sängerin für die Nachwelt in bester Tonqualität zu konservieren.

Recital – also “Vortrag” nennt sich diese Zusammenstellung der Titel aus den Jahren 1952 und 1954, die mit wechselnden Begleitungen aufgenommen worden sind. Alle Musiker halten sich im Respekt vor Billie Holiday zurück; selbst Oscar Peterson ist ein einfühlsamer Begleiter und Paul Quinichette beweist seine Qualität als vollwertiger Lester Young Ersatz.

“Lady Day” schafft es, in das Repertoire aus den Musicals und Songbooks zwischen 1921 und 1935, selbst bei schnulzigen Vorgaben, ihre Persönlichkeit und Lebensgeschichte einzubringen. Sogar die schnellen Tempi wie bei What A Little Moonlight Can Do – eines der Paradestücke der LP – bekommen einen eigenen Stempel aufgedrückt.

Nicht nur die angehenden Sängerinnen sollten sich diese 12 Meisterstücke mindestens einmal pro Woche einverleiben, auch für die passiven Musikgenießer gibt es hier Diamanten allererster Güte und Reinheit zu entdecken.

Billie Holiday, Gesang
Charlie Shavers, Trompete
Joe Newman, Trompete
Flip Philips, Tenorsaxophon
Paul Quinichette, Tenorsaxophon
Oscar Peterson, Klavier, Orgel
Herb Ellis, Gitarre
Barney Kessel, Gitarre
Ray Brown, Kontrabass
Alvin Stoller, Schlagzeug
Gus Johnson, Schlagzeug

Recorded in May and July 1952, April 1954 in New York

Digitally remastered

Zur Info: wir bieten dieses Album in der nativen Abtastrate von 44.1 kHz, 24-Bit an. Die uns zur Verfügung gestellte 96 kHz-Version wurde hochgerechnet und bietet keinen hörbaren Mehrwert!

Billie Holiday
was a true artist of her day and rose as a social phenomenon in the 1950s. Her soulful, unique singing voice and her ability to boldly turn any material that she confronted into her own music made her a superstar of her time. Today, Holiday is remembered for her masterpieces, creativity and vivacity, as many of Holiday’s songs are as well known today as they were decades ago. Holiday’s poignant voice is still considered to be one of the greatest jazz voices of all time.

Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan) grew up in jazz talent-rich Baltimore in the 1920s. As a young teenager, Holiday served the beginning part of her so-called “apprenticeship” by singing along with records by Bessie Smith or Louis Armstrong in after-hours jazz clubs. When Holiday’s mother, Sadie Fagan, moved to New York in search of a better job, Billie eventually went with her. She made her true singing debut in obscure Harlem nightclubs and borrowed her professional name – Billie Holiday – from screen star Billie Dove. Although she never underwent any technical training and never even so much as learned how to read music, Holiday quickly became an active participant in what was then one of the most vibrant jazz scenes in the country. She would move from one club to another, working for tips. She would sometimes sing with the accompaniment of a house piano player while other times she would work as part of a group of performers.

At the age of 18 and after gaining more experience than most adult musicians can claim, Holiday was spotted by John Hammond and cut her first record as part of a studio group led by Benny Goodman, who was then just on the verge of public prominence. In 1935 Holiday’s career got a big push when she recorded four sides that went on to become hits, including “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” and “Miss Brown to You.” This landed her a recording contract of her own, and then, until 1942, she recorded a number of master tracks that would ultimately become an important building block of early American jazz music.

Holiday began working with Lester Young in 1936, who pegged her with her now-famous nickname of “Lady Day.” When Holiday joined Count Basie in 1937 and then Artie Shaw in 1938, she became one of the very first black women to work with a white orchestra, an impressive accomplishment of her time.

In the 1930s, when Holiday was working with Columbia Records, she was first introduced to the poem “Strange Fruit,” an emotional piece about the lynching of a black man. Though Columbia would not allow her to record the piece due to subject matter, Holiday went on to record the song with an alternate label, Commodore, and the song eventually became one of Holiday’s classics. It was “Strange Fruit” that eventually prompted Lady Day to continue more of her signature, moving ballads.

Holiday recorded about 100 new recordings on another label, Verve, from 1952 to 1959. Her voice became more rugged and vulnerable on these tracks than earlier in her career. During this period, she toured Europe, and made her final studio recordings for the MGM label in March of 1959.

Despite her lack of technical training, Holiday’s unique diction, inimitable phrasing and acute dramatic intensity made her the outstanding jazz singer of her day. White gardenias, worn in her hair, became her trademark. “Singing songs like the ‘The Man I Love’ or ‘Porgy’ is no more work than sitting down and eating Chinese roast duck, and I love roast duck,” she wrote in her autobiography. “I’ve lived songs like that.”

Billie Holiday, a musical legend still popular today, died an untimely death at the age of 44. Her emotive voice, innovative techniques and touching songs will forever be remembered and enjoyed.

Dieses Album enthält kein Booklet