On we go, in the search for musical Ithaca. We return again to the very foreign land of jazz.
Disc 253 is...The Quintessential Billie Holiday Vol 4
Artist: Billie Holliday
Year of Release: 1937
What’s Up With The Cover?: It is Billie, belting out a tune. I love her hat - but is it wrong to point out that dress makes her look a little thick around the middle? The pearls are a nice touch though...but since this is A Creative Maelstrom and not a fashion blog, I'll just note she's one foxy lady, and move on.
How I Came To Know It: As I noted in my last Billie Holliday review (back at Disc 165), I was introduced to this music by a woman I used to date. A woman who left a favourable impression on me - and not just with the Billie Holliday. I wish her well, wherever she is these days, and this album had me thinking good thoughts of her, as it often does.
How It Stacks Up: These 'quintessential' albums don't really stack up, since they are all best ofs. I will say, I enjoy this one the most of all three.
Rating: 'best of's don't get ratings. That's how it works, jerkie!
Another of my ill-fated efforts to 'get' jazz. I certainly 'get' Billie Holliday better than most jazz, so this album is a qualified success.
This particular selection of songs has a lot of standards I'm pretty familiar with, including "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me", and having a few familiar landmarks, makes sailing the treacherous waters of jazz a little bit easier to navigate.
I very much enjoyed "How Could You?" on this listen, which is a woman scorned track. Other than that, a lot of the songs seemed very similar to one another to my untrained ear. That said, they all sounded good.
I had a friend I used to work with who was much older than me named Rean. He died a few years ago of cancer of the esophagus - which by the way should be high on anyone's list of 'things you don't want to die of'. This music had me thinking of him, not because he was a Billie Holliday fan in particular (in fact, he preferred regimental marches).
However, his widow, Shirley loved music of the Billie Holliday era. She only lived a little over a year after Rean died, but I used to visit her during these times. Sometimes she'd spontaneously sing one of these songs during the visit. She had a surprisingly beautiful voice, and I used to subtly encourage this so I'd get to hear her sing.
I think that she'd often pick songs from sixty years ago shows just how enduring these tunes are. In fact, they are still being reimagined by modern jazz artists. A good song simply never gets old.
Take a song like that and give it to a woman as brilliantly talented as Billie Holliday, and I should have really enjoyed this album more than I did. I did like it, and I'll be keeping it as an important part of my collection. However, before I rolled this, I didn't put Billie Holliday into rotation a lot and after tonight I will be similarly disinterested.
But for now - for tonight - Billie has me remembering absent friends, and old lovers. It is music to remember by, and so I'll skip any faults it may have, and just say - thanks for the memories, Billie.
Best tracks: Carelessly, How Could You?, Let's Call the Whole Thing Off, They Can't Take That Away From Me, I'll Get By
Disc 253 is...The Quintessential Billie Holiday Vol 4
Artist: Billie HollidayYear of Release: 1937
What’s Up With The Cover?: It is Billie, belting out a tune. I love her hat - but is it wrong to point out that dress makes her look a little thick around the middle? The pearls are a nice touch though...but since this is A Creative Maelstrom and not a fashion blog, I'll just note she's one foxy lady, and move on.
How I Came To Know It: As I noted in my last Billie Holliday review (back at Disc 165), I was introduced to this music by a woman I used to date. A woman who left a favourable impression on me - and not just with the Billie Holliday. I wish her well, wherever she is these days, and this album had me thinking good thoughts of her, as it often does.
How It Stacks Up: These 'quintessential' albums don't really stack up, since they are all best ofs. I will say, I enjoy this one the most of all three.
Rating: 'best of's don't get ratings. That's how it works, jerkie!
Another of my ill-fated efforts to 'get' jazz. I certainly 'get' Billie Holliday better than most jazz, so this album is a qualified success.
This particular selection of songs has a lot of standards I'm pretty familiar with, including "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me", and having a few familiar landmarks, makes sailing the treacherous waters of jazz a little bit easier to navigate.
I very much enjoyed "How Could You?" on this listen, which is a woman scorned track. Other than that, a lot of the songs seemed very similar to one another to my untrained ear. That said, they all sounded good.
I had a friend I used to work with who was much older than me named Rean. He died a few years ago of cancer of the esophagus - which by the way should be high on anyone's list of 'things you don't want to die of'. This music had me thinking of him, not because he was a Billie Holliday fan in particular (in fact, he preferred regimental marches).
However, his widow, Shirley loved music of the Billie Holliday era. She only lived a little over a year after Rean died, but I used to visit her during these times. Sometimes she'd spontaneously sing one of these songs during the visit. She had a surprisingly beautiful voice, and I used to subtly encourage this so I'd get to hear her sing.
I think that she'd often pick songs from sixty years ago shows just how enduring these tunes are. In fact, they are still being reimagined by modern jazz artists. A good song simply never gets old.
Take a song like that and give it to a woman as brilliantly talented as Billie Holliday, and I should have really enjoyed this album more than I did. I did like it, and I'll be keeping it as an important part of my collection. However, before I rolled this, I didn't put Billie Holliday into rotation a lot and after tonight I will be similarly disinterested.
But for now - for tonight - Billie has me remembering absent friends, and old lovers. It is music to remember by, and so I'll skip any faults it may have, and just say - thanks for the memories, Billie.
Best tracks: Carelessly, How Could You?, Let's Call the Whole Thing Off, They Can't Take That Away From Me, I'll Get By
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