All Or Nothing At All (Mono Remastered) Billie Holiday

• 1 Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me 04:16
• 2 Cheek To Cheek 03:38
• 3 Ill Wind 06:18
• 4 Speak Low 04:29
• 5 I Wished On The Moon 03:29
• 6 But Not For Me 03:52
• 7 All Or Nothing At All 05:43
• 8 We'll Be Together Again 04:27
• 9 Sophisticated Lady 04:53
• 10 April In Paris 03:06
• 11 Say It Isn't So 03:19
• 12 Love Is Here To Stay 03:47
• Total Runtime 51:17

Info for All Or Nothing At All (Mono Remastered)

„All Or Nothing At All“ is actually a compilation of three albums worth of material recorded in 1956 and 1957, near the end of Holiday's life. The satisfactions here are numerous. Producer Norman Granz presented one of jazz's definitive vocalists sitting in with a stellar combo of swing-style all stars. Granz assembled a wonderful band for Holiday. Hearing musicians like Ben Webster, Jimmy Rowles, Harry 'Sweets' Edison and Barney Kessel constructing sixteen and thirty-two bar statements on some of the finest standards to ever come out of Tin Pan Alley is reason enough to listen. Holiday is featured by virtue of being the singer, and she includes the introductory verses on several of the tunes. But the band passes around the introductions and obbligatos with the ease and generosity of old familiar colleagues, and everyone makes enthusiastic use of the room they're given, occasionally taking up to a chorus apiece before taking it back to the top. Holiday is one of those artists whose work tends to get divided into 'early' and 'late' periods. These recordings offer an expansive view of her late work in perhaps the most sympathetic, inspiring and swinging context possible.

Billie Holiday, vocals
Barney Kessel, guitar
Ben Webster, tenor saxophone
Harry 'Sweets' Edison, trumpet
Jimmy Rowles, piano
Larry Bunker, drums
Alvin Stoller, drums

Recorded at Radio Recorders and Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California on August 14 & 18, 1956 and from January 3-9, 1957
Produced by Norman Granz

Digitally remastered

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.

This album contains no booklet.