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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
68 of 69 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Time was when Columbia reissued "The Quintessential Billie Holiday" on CD, in their CBS Jazz Masterpieces series, proudly proclaiming "Digitally remastered directly from the original (sic) analogue tapes". Despite that claim, sound quality left much to be desired, and is perhaps most politely summed up as muffled.
That ended appropriately with "Until the Real Thing Comes Along", and was overtaken in 2001 by the reissue of the 10-CD boxed set "Lady Day, The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia" which retailed for a three-figure sum. Not a bad price, unless you stopped to reflect that the dedicated collector would have expended several times that amount already on previous vinyl and digital reissues. The price was geared to the LP-sized package as well as the contents, but sound quality was far superior.
Having held back then, I am delighted that this magnificent compilation has been repackaged in a CD-sized box and is now available at a price that puts it in reach not just of the ardent collector, but of the casual purchaser also. The set includes a 68-page booklet, which comprises a song index (invaluable if you want to locate just one) an appreciation of Lady Day by Gary Giddins, a shorter essay of her effect on literature by Farah Jasmine Griffin, and a discography. Photographs are scattered throughout the essays, and there's a colour montage of some of the original 78 labels.
Giddins makes a nod in the direction of John Hammond, and the latter deserves credit as the catalyst for these recording sessions. He was not a hard-nosed record producer (most of whom were unsympathetic to jazz) but a genuine fan who could afford to indulge his passion. To digress, I'm glad also that Giddins has highlighted the irony of the sympathetic portrayal of Louis McKay in the biopic "Lady Sings the Blues", but the irony didn't end there. McKay acted as a paid consultant on the movie, which portrayed Billie as having been introduced to drugs by one of the members of an unnamed white band with which she was touring. Had Artie Shaw chosen to sue it would have been no contest!
The Amazon review of this set carries the comment "In the early years the band is named as hers when Wilson is absent", but that is misleading because Wilson was present on some of those dates. The actual difference between the two billings is more marked; where Wilson got label credit Billie's vocal was confined to the middle section, but when her name was used she introduced the song, the group played the middle section, and she sang the ride-out.
My favourite disc is number 6, which includes such sublime masterpieces as Some Other Spring, Ghost of Yesterday, and Body and Soul. Billie is very much in the driving seat, and the various groups provide the most wonderful homogenised accompaniments, against which she weaves the lyric. But whichever you choose to play there is treasure, and this set must rank as the Best Buy of the Year.
That ended appropriately with "Until the Real Thing Comes Along", and was overtaken in 2001 by the reissue of the 10-CD boxed set "Lady Day, The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia" which retailed for a three-figure sum. Not a bad price, unless you stopped to reflect that the dedicated collector would have expended several times that amount already on previous vinyl and digital reissues. The price was geared to the LP-sized package as well as the contents, but sound quality was far superior.
Having held back then, I am delighted that this magnificent compilation has been repackaged in a CD-sized box and is now available at a price that puts it in reach not just of the ardent collector, but of the casual purchaser also. The set includes a 68-page booklet, which comprises a song index (invaluable if you want to locate just one) an appreciation of Lady Day by Gary Giddins, a shorter essay of her effect on literature by Farah Jasmine Griffin, and a discography. Photographs are scattered throughout the essays, and there's a colour montage of some of the original 78 labels.
Giddins makes a nod in the direction of John Hammond, and the latter deserves credit as the catalyst for these recording sessions. He was not a hard-nosed record producer (most of whom were unsympathetic to jazz) but a genuine fan who could afford to indulge his passion. To digress, I'm glad also that Giddins has highlighted the irony of the sympathetic portrayal of Louis McKay in the biopic "Lady Sings the Blues", but the irony didn't end there. McKay acted as a paid consultant on the movie, which portrayed Billie as having been introduced to drugs by one of the members of an unnamed white band with which she was touring. Had Artie Shaw chosen to sue it would have been no contest!
The Amazon review of this set carries the comment "In the early years the band is named as hers when Wilson is absent", but that is misleading because Wilson was present on some of those dates. The actual difference between the two billings is more marked; where Wilson got label credit Billie's vocal was confined to the middle section, but when her name was used she introduced the song, the group played the middle section, and she sang the ride-out.
My favourite disc is number 6, which includes such sublime masterpieces as Some Other Spring, Ghost of Yesterday, and Body and Soul. Billie is very much in the driving seat, and the various groups provide the most wonderful homogenised accompaniments, against which she weaves the lyric. But whichever you choose to play there is treasure, and this set must rank as the Best Buy of the Year.
42 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Some years ago I purchased a Japanese set of Lady Day's Columbia recordings - I thought I had at last got a complete edition in the best possible sound. Now along comes this set which proves me wrong on both counts - this really is complete but with some contemporary live tracks as well. As for the sound, I do not believe it will be possible to improve on the studio transfers - they are as near to perfect as you can get. The set is astonishingly cheap for what it is - the greatest canon of vocals in the history of jazz - and I have only two minor complaints regarding the booklet. My Japanese set included the words of all the songs (no doubt to help Japanese buyers) and it would have been nice to have included these - especially as not all the songs are standards. The only other complaint is a tad more serious. There is a tendency to be 'arty' with booklet presentation, often making it difficult to read (especially as on CDs the print is inevitably small). The most common fault (which this booklet is not guilty of) is to lay text over pictures. It is important to have strong colours (black/white is preferable) to contrast text in a clear manner. In the disc details at the end of this booklet they have put a light grey text on white and it is VERY difficult to read. If ever they do a reprinting they should correct this. General message to all record (booklet) producers - 'artiness' does not impress - it irritates.
Having got that off my chest, what can i, a mere mortal, say about these recordings. Oh to have been alive in NYC in the thirties. Although no club could have afforded all the talent gathered together for these sessions, there was always the chance to see some of them some of the time - and one had Toscanini and Horowitz as well!
All we have now are the recordings and I thank the heavens for that. People other than just jazz fans should hear these recordings - listen long enough and you will be won over to the greatest voice that jazz ever produced accompanied by the greatest players in the country at that time. I rest my case.
Having got that off my chest, what can i, a mere mortal, say about these recordings. Oh to have been alive in NYC in the thirties. Although no club could have afforded all the talent gathered together for these sessions, there was always the chance to see some of them some of the time - and one had Toscanini and Horowitz as well!
All we have now are the recordings and I thank the heavens for that. People other than just jazz fans should hear these recordings - listen long enough and you will be won over to the greatest voice that jazz ever produced accompanied by the greatest players in the country at that time. I rest my case.
35 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Although covering the same ground as the Columbia Legacy issue, this is a splendid alternative. The compilation has been put together slightly differently in that relevant alternate takes are grouped together at the end of each CD rather than as a separate 'block'. This is preferable to my mind. The booklet containts full discographical details and lyrics. The remastering s as good as the Columbia and the price is very reasonable.
This group of recordings is, of course, one of the most significant in jazz history. To listen in chronlogical order from Billie's exhuberant first date with Benny Goodman - full of youthful joy - through the wonderful 'swing-sing' sessions with Teddy Wilson and the Basieites and concluding with the emergence of Lady Day as the finest of all jazz vocalists accompanied by the superb 'Cafe Society' bands is one of the greatest pleasures music has to offer.
As a bonus, the set set includes a handful of live recordings. These include a film sountrack with Duke Ellington from 1935, three airshots with Basie in 1937, two with Goodman in 1939, and Billie's contributions to the 1944 Metropolitan Opera House jam session. These are all notable performances and well worth having.
An essential purchase.
This group of recordings is, of course, one of the most significant in jazz history. To listen in chronlogical order from Billie's exhuberant first date with Benny Goodman - full of youthful joy - through the wonderful 'swing-sing' sessions with Teddy Wilson and the Basieites and concluding with the emergence of Lady Day as the finest of all jazz vocalists accompanied by the superb 'Cafe Society' bands is one of the greatest pleasures music has to offer.
As a bonus, the set set includes a handful of live recordings. These include a film sountrack with Duke Ellington from 1935, three airshots with Basie in 1937, two with Goodman in 1939, and Billie's contributions to the 1944 Metropolitan Opera House jam session. These are all notable performances and well worth having.
An essential purchase.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
reflections
Excellent product and lives up to the praise heaped on it,I am sure that it will get many hours on the player. Read more
Published 8 months ago by hadjazz
Still the Best for Raw Emotional Jazz Singing
I have had this set of discs for a few years now and can give it a huge thumbs up. I have been a fan of Billie's voice for many years and it does not take much knowledge of her own... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Powerbookboy
You have to buy this...no really, you do...
So if you're like me, you've struggled for years with a motley bunch of muzzled Billie releases, wishing that the late great John RT Davies had been let loose on them (he did... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Tyrone
Lady Day, The Complete Columbia Recordings 1933-1944, Billie Holiday -...
This 10 disc box set does exactly what it promises - delivers every track recorded by Billie Holiday, AKA Lady Day, for Columbia between 1933 and 1944. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Victor
Tell Lady Gaga to listen to this!
This is proper music, Billie Holliday actually sang her music and had real amazing musicians and orchestras behind her. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Adam Stacey
An encyclopedia of taste and class.
I have always thought that Billie holiday was a beautiful jazz singer and I purchased this set recently to collect the missing 60 extra takes there are in here of songs she issued... Read more
Published 15 months ago by R. K. Hunter
Still awaiting delivery
It would be nice to review this but I am still waiting for delivery it was to be a christmas present perhaps I will get before Easter
Published 16 months ago by Paul
Limitless Delight
The large-box issue will no doubt remain a collectors' item, and perhaps the profits from that enabled Sony to add these recordings to the many that they are issuing at a giveaway... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Christopher Hawtree
Superb. Wonderful. Amazing. Incomparable. and so on and so on
What can I say - nothing that has not been said before. This set of cd's are excellent and are giving me continuous pleasure. Read more
Published 17 months ago by kinkyboots
Fantastic value
They say CDs are outmoded now, but the items included in this product show real attention to detail. Read more
Published 19 months ago by gogo
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