If you're a completist who insists on having everything that
Billie Holiday
recorded,
The Complete Commodore Recordings
is required listening. But for the more casual listener, it's best to pass on that two-CD set and stick with
The Commodore Master Takes
. While
contains all of the alternate takes that
Holiday
recorded for
Commodore
in 1939 and 1944, this collection only concerns itself with the master takes (which total 16).
never singed an exclusive contract with
-- she only freelanced for the label, and the ultra-influential jazz singer spent a lot more time recording for
Columbia
in the 1930s and early 1940s, and for
Decca
from 1944-1950. But her
output was first-rate, and
Lady Day
excels whether she's joined by trumpeter
Frankie Newton
's octet at a 1939 session or by pianist
Eddie Heywood
's orchestra at three sessions in 1944. The CD gets off to an impressive start with the controversial
"Strange Fruit,"
a bone-chilling account of lynching in the Deep South that ended up being released on
because
was afraid to touch it.
is also quite expressive on performances that range from
"Fine and Mellow,"
"I Got a Right to Sing the Blues"
and
"Yesterdays"
in 1939 to
"My Old Flame,"
"Billie's Blues,"
"I'll Be Seeing You,"
"He's Funny That Way"
in 1944. For those with even a casual interest in
's legacy, this superb CD is essential listening. ~ Alex Henderson