Swing Brother Swing

This budget compilation seems determined to counter Billie Holiday’s image as a mournful singer by choosing 12 selections from her Brunswick and Vocalion sessions of the 1930s that emphasize her talents for uptempo swing music. Half the tracks are drawn from recordings credited to Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra, half to Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra, but in practice all are hot, small-band recordings on which Holiday generally is accompanied by a few horns and a rhythm section. With the exception of the Gershwins’ “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” the tunes are not memorable, but the playing is: Holiday keeps up with the beat, and the backup musicians, who include such notables as Roy Eldridge, Chu Berry, Dave Barbour, Cozy Cole, Babe Russin, and Milt Hinton, acquit themselves well. – William Ruhlmann