Ultimate Collection Billie Holiday

Bigger Billie Holiday boxes have been released, but if you're looking for a collection that doesn't break the bank but spans her career AND packs a multimedia punch, look no further. Among these 42 tracks are sides cut for every label (Brunswick, Okeh, Commodore, Columbia, Capitol, Decca, Aladdin, Clef and Verve) that recorded Billie, including all the classics: Lover Man; God Bless the Child; Strange Fruit; Don't Explain; Good Morning Heartache , and more. And the accompanying DVD includes eight TV performances including three (from 1956's Stars of Jazz ) that have never been seen since their original airing. Exemplary. Billie Holiday (1917-59) wore gardenias, was a teenaged prostitute, did drugs, and died with a cop posted outside her hospital bed. But with her gravel-like vocals, and behind-the-beat phrasing, she was one of the greatest singers of the twentieth century. This multimedia collection commemorates her ninetieth birthday. Two CDs contain forty two of her greatest hits, from her 1935 stint with Benny Goodman, to her chilling 1958 strings album, Lady in Satin. It features her signature songs like "Good Morning Heartache," "God Bless the Child," and her unforgettable anti-lynching number "Strange Fruit." The DVD includes film cameos with Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, photographs, posters, rehearsals and interviews with friends and musicians, including a rediscovered 1956 radio broadcast with a young Mike Wallace. Her achy artistry is timeless, and as Ashley Kahn wrote in his superb liner notes, "Billie will be there tonight, tomorrow night and a long time to come." --Eugene Holley, Jr.

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