HIGH BIAS -- reissues

BILLIE HOLIDAY
Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday
(Columbia/Legacy)
Part of appreciating Billie Holiday is what the listener brings to the experience. She was a gifted singer, an alto with a reedy timbre, a luscious vibrato and gorgeous phrasing. She was surrounded by equally gifted musicians for much of her career, including luminaries Lester Young, Teddy Wilson and Artie Shaw. Her repertoire, at its best, included works by Gershwin, Berlin and Porter (though it did dip into mediocrity and cute nonsense sometimes, particularly on some earlier songs not included here).

But it's no secret that she was a tragic figure who'd had brushes with the law beginning at a young age. How much the listener will appreciate Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday will depend on exactly what he or she seeks. From the very earliest works on this double-disc set, which date from 1935, there are bits of foreshadowing and insinuation in her choice of material and phrasing. The sampler, taken from the box set Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944), features material from what's largely considered the most important stretch of her career. Part of the appeal is the sound. Considering that much of this material predates the second World War, and that the sources couldn't have always been pristine, the audio throughout Lady Day is pleasing to the ear at the least, and occasionally quite vibrant. It's also considerably more upbeat and spry in places than some of her later, trademark material such as "I'm a Fool to Want You" (from 1958's Lady in Satin, completed only months before her death).

Certainly, Holiday brings a personality and swagger to material such as "A Fine Romance" that, ten years prior, would have been just another generic Tin Pan Alley number. "Easy to Love" showcases her pipes, but "I Must Have That Man," from six months later, swings and whispers along, hinting at the resonance some of these songs must have held for her. "Easy Living," like some of the other tunes, is almost a tease, as the whole band gets a melodic workout before Holiday ever opens her mouth; it's over before it gets started. Conversely, "You Go to My Head" allows Holiday to plunge into the dreamy tune from the get-go, and the result is romantic and euphoric.

And whereas "My Man" and "I Can't Believe You're in Love with Me" wistfully extol a lover's virtues, Holiday's own "Long Gone Blues" explores heartbreak just as capably. "Body and Soul" is a cornerstone of her catalog, and with good reason. "My life revolves about you/What earthly good am I without you?" she sings, and the pain oozes from the speakers.

On the merits of her vocal gift, in its purest and least-adulterated form, Lady Day is a stellar introduction. For a more complete overview of her career, though, this set should be bookended with a later compilation (recommendation: Verve's The Billie Holiday Songbook, which includes must-haves such as "Don't Explain" and "Strange Fruit"). Brian Briscoe [buy it]

For fans of: Ella Fitzgerald, Charles Brown, Chet Baker