O-10:
Glad you enjoyed the girl band.
Today's listen:
Billie Holiday -- LADY IN AUTUMN:THE BEST OF THE VERVE YEARS
I listened to this when I was alone, and the house was quiet. WOW! She is sooo good. She don't need no stinking perfect voice. The feeling she puts into her singing is just amazing. Much better than the 'Quintessentiasl vol 5'.
Very good recorded sound. Even the strings on the last few tracks of CD#2 could not mar her performance.
From the liner notes:
"like the aging fast-ball pitcher who has lost his stuff, she was depending more and more on craft and guile to put across her songs." --- John S Wilson, Jazz Critic.
And then, there was this, from a Jazz Musician, shortly before her death.:
"I'd rather hear her now. She's become much more mature. Sometimes you can sing words every night for five years, and all of a sudden it dawns on you what the song means. I played 'My Funny Valentine' for a long time-and didn't like it-and all of a sudden it meant something. So with Billie, you know she's not thinking now what she was in 1937, and she's probably learned more about different things. And she has control, probably more control now than then. No I don't think she's in a decline." -- Miles Davis, Jazz Musician.
"But, even in her youth, Holiday's voice was not, in itself, remarkable. Compared to Ella and Sarah, she possessed a limited instrument--relatively narrow in range, tone and color. The way Holiday used her voice--her resourceful alterations of melody; her dramatic, often ironic, approach to lyrics; her peerless sense of swing -- is what made her the greatest singer in Jazz history."----Joel E. Siegel, writer of the liner notes.
I tend to agree with Siegel, up to a point. No sure about that 'greatest in history' stuff. After all, Miss Fitzgerald was in history! :) But all are interesting.
Next up, tomorrow, The Complete DECCA recordings.
Cheers
