The Essential Billie Holiday: Carnegie Hall Concert Recorded Live (1961)
The Essential Billie Holiday: Carnegie Hall Concert Recorded Live is a live album by jazz singer Billie Holiday that was recorded on November 10, 1956 at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The two sets promoted Billie Holiday's autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues.
Between songs, Gilbert Millstein of The New York Times read aloud four lengthy passages from her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues. The narrated parts of the concerts were not included until the re-release on CD in 1989.
The autobiography was ghostwritten. Norman Granz, her manager, suspected she had never read it.[1]
In the liner notes of the album Millstein wrote:
The narration began with the ironic account of her birth in Baltimore – 'Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen, and I was three' – and ended, very nearly shyly, with her hope for love and a long life with 'my man' at her side...It was evident, even then, that Miss Holiday was ill. I had known her casually over the years and I was shocked at her physical weakness. Her rehearsal had been desultory; her voice sounded tinny and trailed off; her body sagged tiredly. But I will not forget the metamorphosis that night. The lights went down, the musicians began to play and the narration began. Miss Holiday stepped from between the curtains, into the white spotlight awaiting her, wearing a white evening gown and white gardenias in her black hair. She was erect and beautiful; poised and smiling. And when the first section of narration was ended, she sang – with strength undiminished – with all of the art that was hers. I was very much moved. In the darkness, my face burned and my eyes. I recall only one thing. I smiled.[2]
The critic Nat Hentoff of Down Beat magazine, who attended the Carnegie Hall concert, wrote the remainder of the sleeve notes on the 1961 album. He wrote of Holiday's performance:
Throughout the night, Billie was in superior form to what had sometimes been the case in the last years of her life. Not only was there assurance of phrasing and intonation; but there was also an outgoing warmth, a palpable eagerness to reach and touch the audience. And there was mocking wit. A smile was often lightly evident on her lips and her eyes as if, for once, she could accept the fact that there were people who did dig her...The beat flowed in her uniquely sinuous, supple way of moving the story along; the words became her own experiences; and coursing through it all was Lady's sound – a texture simultaneously steel-edged and yet soft inside; a voice that was almost unbearably wise in disillusion and yet still childlike, again at the centre. The audience was hers from before she sang, greeting her and saying good-bye with heavy, loving applause. And at one time, the musicians too applauded. It was a night when Billie was on top, undeniably the best and most honest jazz singer alive.
Billie Holiday was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made a significant contribution to jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly influenced by jazz instrumentalists, inspired a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills.
Lady Sings the Blues is a 1972 American biographical musical drama film directed by Sidney J. Furie about jazz singer Billie Holiday, loosely based on her 1956 autobiography which, in turn, took its title from Holiday's song. It was produced by Motown Productions for Paramount Pictures. Diana Ross, in her feature film debut, portrayed Holiday, alongside a cast including Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James T. Callahan, and Scatman Crothers. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1973, including Best Actress for Diana Ross.
Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at Newport is a 1958 live album by Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, recorded at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival.
An Evening with Diana Ross is a 1977 live double album released by American singer Diana Ross on the Motown label. It was recorded live at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in December 1976 during the international tour of Ross' one-woman show, for which she was awarded a special Tony Award after the show's run at Broadway's Palace Theater, followed by an Emmy-nominated TV special of the same name. It marked the first time in history a solo female headlined a 90-minute TV special. The album reached #29 in the USA . The album showcased her live performances for the second time as a solo performer, following 1974's Live At Caesars Palace. It was the last live album Ross released until 1989's Greatest Hits Live.
Carmen McRae Sings Lover Man and Other Billie Holiday Classics is a 1962 studio album by Carmen McRae, recorded in tribute to McRae's idol, Billie Holiday, who had died two years previously.
Stolen Moments: The Lady Sings... Jazz and Blues is a 1993 live album by Diana Ross released on the Motown label.
"Mon Homme", also known by its English translation, "My Man", is a popular song first published in 1920. The song was originally composed by Maurice Yvain with French lyrics by Jacques-Charles and Albert Willemetz. The English lyrics were written by Channing Pollock.
Lady Sings the Blues is an album by American jazz vocalist Billie Holiday released in December 1956. It was Holiday's last album released on Clef Records; the following year, the label would be absorbed by Verve Records. Lady Sings the Blues was taken from sessions taped during 1954 and 1956. It was released simultaneously with her ghostwritten autobiography of the same name.
An Evening with Billie Holiday is the second 10-inch LP studio album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released by Clef Records in 1953.
Body and Soul is a studio album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released in 1957.
Here's to My Lady is a 1978 studio album by the American jazz singer Rosemary Clooney, recorded in tribute to Billie Holiday.
I'll Be Seeing You is a 1959 studio album by Jo Stafford. It was re-released in Japan in 1983.
Billie Holiday at Jazz at the Philharmonic is a live album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, originally recorded on February 12, 1945 and October 3, 1946 at the Jazz at the Philharmonic concert at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, and at Carnegie Hall on June 3, 1946.
The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings is a 1997 compilation 3-CD set of sessions led by jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman, and recorded for the RCA Victor label between 1935 and 1939.
How About This is an album by vocalist Kay Starr and pianist and bandleader Count Basie, released in 1969 by the Paramount Records label.
A Rare Live Recording Of Billie Holiday is a live album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, compiling material recorded over two nights at Boston's Storyville Club in 1951, and released by the small Recording Industries Corporation label in 1964. The material was originally broadcast on the radio station WMEX. The album documents one of the few recordings of Holiday performing her live set at a nightclub.
The Way We Were: Live in Concert is a live album by vocalist Etta Jones and saxophonist Houston Person which was recorded in Cleveland in 2000 but not released on the Highnote label until 2011.
Movies Too is an album by the flugelhornist Franco Ambrosetti which was recorded in 1988 and released on the Enja label.
With Billie in Mind is a solo tribute album by pianist Teddy Wilson featuring tunes associated with Billie Holiday that were recorded in New York City in 1972 and released on the Chiaroscuro label. The album was reissued on CD in 1990 with six additional tracks.
For Lady Day is an album by saxophonist Zoot Sims recorded in 1978 but not released by the Pablo label until 1991.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
