Billie Holiday, Lester Young - A Musical Romance
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Music Reviews of A Musical Romance
Music Review: Wow.
Rating: 5 Stars
This is a great compilation. Of course, everyone who knows the comprehensive nine CD collection from Columbia (The Quintessential Billie Holiday) will have favorites that are missing from this selected greats, but this disc is representative of the electric interaction of Lester Young and Billie Holiday. It really does record a musical romance. Songs like "This Years' Kisses" underpinned by Teddy Wilson's piano, Freddie Greene's guitar, Walter Page's bass and Jo Jones' drums are classics. Holiday is the legendary "Lady Day" and Young is her bolster and foil. She simply handles songs, takes them as her own and defines them--musically, emotionally, poetically. Her style is always her own and it's instantly recognizable. Billie Holiday defines rhythm, phrasing, meaning with a poignancy that cannot be matched. Or described. Young is her perfect accompanist. He too is lyrical, poignant, pointedly emotional. So here we have classic settings of "I Must Have That Man," "When You're Smiling," "Without Your Love," "He's Funny That Way," and Holiday's own "Fine and Mellow." There are other collections featuring Lester Young and Billie Holiday, but this one is certainly a respectable cross section. And it also has the added bonus of classic jazz accompaniment by Wilson, trumpeter Buck Clayton, Benny Goodman and other giants of the swing era.Music Review: A Great Disc at a Good Price...
Rating: 5 Stars
Yeah, this is a really nice disc: it's about the best compilation of the tracks of Billie singing with Pres backing her up. Now, Billie sang with lots of fine musicians, and I'm not sure it's necessary to overemphasize the particular relationship between Billie and the Pres. In any case--as I've said--this is a really nice disc and a great compilation: the sound is absolutely excellent--plus, it seems to me that the producers have cannily increased the volume track ever so slightly, to give the Pres' solos that extra touch: if so, they've done an outstanding job!
A final note on this question of the "Fine and Mellow" track: the track featured here is a studio track recorded on 7 Dec. 1957 as a rehearsal for the following day's live telecast "The Sound of Jazz" (8 Dec. 1957).
The studio track (7 Dec. 1957) featured here is 6:19.
The live telecast track (8 Dec. 1957) is 8:46. (It can be found on Vol. 3, Billie Holiday Broadcast Performances [1956-58] on ZYX Music [Esp label] from Germany.)
Music Review: A Musical Romance is musical magic
Rating: 5 Stars
Holiday and Young are an absolutely inspired duo for a CD. Two musical legends performing together at arguably both their peaks (late '30's). From "The Man I Love" through "Fine and Mellow" each song showcases the great saxophone sounds of Lester Young with the perfect voice of Billie Holiday. This is a perfect blend, as if they were meant to perform together. The songs create a mellow yet heady atmosphere that it's easy to drift into.(Warning: don't try to play this CD as background music. You'll just stop whatever else you're doing and listen.)
Such wonderful music is difficult to write about because written adjectives don't suffice to convey the beauty of the sounds.
Suffice it to say that if you are a fan of either artist or want a good introduction to them, this CD is a must.
Also features such luminaries as Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson and Johnny Hodges.
Music Review: The last rendevous...
Rating: 5 Stars
There has been much talk about Billie Holiday's voice. There's the sweet early voice, the mature voice of the later years, drug and whiskey-soaked, with the impeccable timing, and then there is this. Billie Holiday CDs flood my collection, but this remarkable collaboration stands alone as absolutely the finest. Cut after cut, it just keeps coming. I've been anticipating it since I heard the praises of someone who was at the session, and raved about the melding, emotion and artistry generated between Billie Holiday and Lester Young. This session was a musical pinacle for two legends who were also lovers at their last rendevous. Everyone present knew it was the last, and became transfixed by the magic going down. Billie dug deep and came up with her finest. Buy this now, and be transported by the best of two giants of jazz...
Music Review: Pure beauty
Rating: 5 Stars
I just wanted to disagree strongly with what M.S.F. wrote about the last track on this compilation. It comes from a live CBS TV broadcast, The Sound of Jazz, from either 1957 or 1958, and thoroughly deserves to be included. Agreed that by then Billie's voice had pretty much gone, and Lester was mainly just going through the motions, but the track is one of the last times they recorded together; although technically it's not their finest work, it is nonetheless very affecting.
Actually, it has been reissued a number of times, earlier on VHS but subsequently on DVD and you really have to see it as well as hear it to get the full effect. At one point, Billie turns to Lester with such a look of love; I always find that unbearably moving.