Greatest Hits

There’s something scandalous about the fact that this 13-song CD is, as of spring 2000, the only upgrade to date of Columbia Records’ holdings on Billie Holiday. It’s good as far as it goes, as part of Sony Music’s 20-bit remastering of the highlights of its jazz catalog, but it makes one wonder how long listeners have to wait for the nine volumes of The Quintessential Billie Holiday to be upgraded for sound. These tracks were all recorded between July 2, 1935, and August 7, 1941; originally cut for Brunswick, Vocalion, and OKeh and now owned by Columbia, they represent highlights from her association with producer John Hammond. They feature Holiday working with Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, Johnny Hodges, Roy Eldridge, and Ben Webster on the earliest tracks; an early hook-up with Artie Shaw; samples of her collaborations with Lester Young and Buck Clayton; the rest of the core of the Count Basie Orchestra working as Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra; and her renditions of “God Bless the Child,” “Solitude,” “Gloomy Sunday,” and “Body and Soul” from the early ’40s. It’s fascinating to hear the sampling of material featured here and the gradual darkening of Holiday’s voice over the six years covered by this collection. There are gaps, of course, and it’s interesting that the notes, apart from saying precious little of substance about the music or the recordings, never explain what is not here or why (“Strange Fruit,” for example). This 13-song sampler is a decent overview of some highlights of her early work, with ample room for the soloists in her band, and a fine body of blues-influenced swing. Now if Sony would only go back and redo the rest of her catalogs. – Bruce Eder