Billie Holiday – The Ultimate Collection

Beautiful Day: New set pays tribute to jazz’s beloved crown jewel
In December 1957, appearing on a CBS television special on jazz, Billie Holiday looks on as some of the best jazz soloists of her day try to impress her on “Fine And Mellow.” By that point in her life, Holiday’s singing voice had long since taken on a raspy, smoke-stained tint, and her health was quickly deteriorating, but you couldn’t have convinced Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins or Roy Eldridge she’d lost a thing. The three legendary instrumentalists, though towering musical figures in their own right, line up to deliver personal offerings of respect and love to their Lady (Young actually gave Holiday the nickname “Lady Day”) and sometimes appear nervous as schoolboys on parade in front of the prettiest girl in school. Trumpeter Eldridge cracks a note, but nails the high one at the end; alto-saxophonist Hawkins keeps things nice and smooth, ever the gentleman; tenor man Young plays the blues, and elicits the most appreciative response from Holiday, as she rocks back and forth to his phrases and sweaty brow. It spurs him on. Even in her final years, Billie Holiday was a wanted woman.
The Ultimate Collection makes yet another case for Holiday’s continuing appeal. It contains two discs of music and a DVD with archival audio and video material spanning Holiday’s 25-year recording career. More than that, it clarifies why so many people found her fascinating, tragic and just plain cool. Despite its stated intent (“No interpretation, filter or framing”), the set reveals an artist mostly blue on record, though with a grin, as if the travails of her life never quite got the best of her emotionally. Of course, Holiday has been dead for over 45 years, and given the number of compilations currently available, one might understandably count the book just about closed for further consideration. Even so, this blandly titled set surprises, since for the first time in America, listeners have access to a sampling of her entire recorded output, label by label, mono to stereo, big bands, jazz combos and all. The video footage is a marvel, but perhaps even more valuable to fans are the audio interviews, detailed timeline and hundreds of still images.