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Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection

By Celeste Sunderland
November 13, 2005
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Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection

Billie Holiday
Verve/Hip-O/Decca

2005

There's a moment on Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection when Lester Young slips into his sax solo and the camera zooms in on Billie Holiday's face. Glistening eyes, arching brow and an uncontrollable smile reveal anticipation, awe and admiration. The pair joins an allstar cast including Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge and Gerry Mulligan among others for a 1957 CBS performance of "Fine And Mellow . Earlier, a scene from the 1947 film New Orleans portrays an exuberant Louis Armstrong bursting with delight during "The Blues Are Brewin' while the stunning, gardenia-encrusted Miss Holiday sings by his side. With ten rare performances, the DVD provides an overview of Lady Day's career and provides a glimpse into the singer's persona.

Witness Billie's dramatic side with Duke Ellington's "Symphony In Black, A Rhapsody Of Negro Life from 1935. Later, her puffy features and gloomy demeanor shock, though her voice quivers with more emotion than ever as she steps into the spotlight in taffeta and rhinestones for a 1956 TV performance of "My Man , "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone and "Billie's Blues .

Two CDs and an archive of bonus material fill out the collection including a 1956 radio interview where Lady Day shows off her cool, clever intelligence in response to Mike Wallace's probing questions about the jazz lifestyle. A slideshow jammed with glamorous photos of Billie with her mother, husbands, pals and band mates at New York clubs like the 3 Deuces and the Onyx top off the package.

FILM AND TV PERFORMANCES
Saddest Tale
The Blues Are Brewin'
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
My Man (Mon Homme)
Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
Billie's Blues
Fine And Mellow
What A Little Moonlight Can Do
St. Louis Blues "" Bessie Smith
I Cover The Waterfront "" Louis Armstrong

AUDIO PERFORMANCES
Swing! Brother, Swing!
They Can't Take That Away From Me
Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me
I'll Get By
I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone

AUDIO INTERVIEWS
John Hammond, Jo Jones, Roy Eldridge, Barney Josephson, Tiny Grimes, Billy Eckstine, Jimmy Rowles, Sylvia Syms, Corky Hale 1955 Audio Rehearsal: Billie Holiday And Jimmy Rowles For "Jeepers Creepers" 1956 Audio Interview: Billie Holiday With Mike Wallace, Night Beat Timeline: Hundreds Of Images And Interactive Features Complete Recording History For Okeh, Vocalion, Brunswick, Aladdin, Columbia, Commodore, Capitol, Decca, Clef And Verve

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