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Whistle Stopper - Love Songs
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List Price: $11.98
Our Price: $5.44
Your Save: $ 6.54 ( 55% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Sony
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0074646485323
Label: Sony
Manufacturer: Sony
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Sony
Release Date: 1996-03-12
Studio: Sony
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: My wife just loved it
Comment: She is a fan of this artist, and was wanting this for a long time. Gave it as a gife to her. She loves it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Adding to a Billie Holiday collection
Comment: This one is a must-have if you want to assemble a top-flight Billie Holiday collection. All the recordings were made between 1935-1942 when her perfect natural voice was still like a bell, and her musical instincts were in full bloom. Unlike her later recordings, there is no sign of the sad toll her lifestyle took on her voice. The best treat in this candy dish is hearing her sing with Count Basie on the piano, in THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME. The Sony remasterings are brilliant and even, and very far above the so-so quality of most Lady Day anthologies - don't pass this one up. A NOTE ABOUT THE ALBUM COVER ART - Take a look at the second version of the cover art with Holiday's portrait - this is the cover of the CD we picked up.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Superb Compilation of Lady Day's Early Work
Comment: Along with 'Lady in Autumn' this is probably the best compilation of Billie Holiday's work. Superbly remastered, it is arguably the finest representation of jazz singing in this period EXCEPT for Lady's other recordings during this time. The reason for this is not only Billie Holiday's extraordinary sound (which defined jazz singing with each note), but the quality of the musicians who accompanied her. Many of these sessions were led by Teddy Wilson (the leader with whom she is most closely associated during this period), who led on nearly half of the selections on this CD, and features legends like Ben Webster, Lester Young, and Buck Clayton.
The songs are of a higher quality than many of the pieces Holiday was given to record during her earliest recording years (probably due to the strength of her fame by the mid-1930s), and her renditions of 'All of Me', 'You Go to My Head', 'The Very Thought of You', and 'The Way You Look Tonight', are comparable with any versions of these standards. (It should be noted that Holiday's gift was so unique that she didn't have to 'learn' her craft: her earliest recordings are classics (a distinction even the great Ella Fitzgerald doesn't enjoy, as Ella's best recordings didn't begin until the 1950s)).
These performances represent Holiday's voice in its physical prime, and her sound is so profound that even the exceptional soloists and session musicians cannot upstage her, though she really gets a run for her money on 'The Way You Look Tonight'. My personal favorite on this CD, it features marvelous reed solos (especially trumpet and the opening clarinet solo) and an impeccable rhythm session with Milt Hinton on bass, Gene Krupa on drums, and Teddy Wilson on piano. Indeed, it is worth purchasing the CD just to hear Holiday's fellow musicians!
This CD belongs in any credible jazz collection, and is a wonderful entry for anyone wanting exposure to the best music of this period.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Classic!
Comment: Anybody who loves jazz and the blues cannot be without this Billie Holiday CD. I love it. I can listen to it all day. It's a pleasure to hear great jazz and such an incredible voice.
Customer Rating:
Summary: WOW!!
Comment: This cd was the first Billie Holiday I ever purchased. WOW! She is the greatest, bar none! EVERY serious lover of music needs this work to add to their collection. I had no idea how special she was and how timeless her work. I am a fan for life.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Culled from the Columbia Records reissue packages, variously released under the multivolume Quintessential Billie Holiday umbrella, this package goes straight for the love songs, the heart of Holiday. Ranging from such playful lyrics as "Let's Do It" and "Them There Eyes" to such essential Holiday as "You Go to My Head," "The Very Thought of You," and "Easy Living," this set is guaranteed to keep the home fires burning brightly. Lay this one on your lover next Valentine's Day. As was so frequently the case with Holiday, the ensemble support is impeccable, including many of the swingers from Columbia's Greatest Hits package. The bonus here is Count Basie on piano, leading his swinging big band on "They Can't Take That Away from Me." --Willard Jenkins
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