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The soundtrack to the 2020 Billie Holiday documentary, Billie brings together a nice cross-section of the legendary singer's output from her early work in the 1930s to just before her death in the 1950s. The music correlates nicely with the director James Erskine's film, which works to illuminate Holiday's groundbreaking career, as well as her troubled personal life. Included on the soundtrack are a handful of what are largely considered Holiday's most important recordings. Chief among them is her landmark 1939 recording of "Strange Fruit," a haunting protest ballad against the lynching of black people that many believe helped to ignite the Civil Rights Movement. Also featured are a handful of her other classic studio recordings, including 1939's "Fine and Mellow," 1950's "God Bless the Child" with the Gordon Jenkins vocal group, and her live 1956 performance of "Don't Explain" captured at Carnegie Hall. We also get her swinging 1949 take on "Now or Never" with Sy Oliver & His Orchestra and her shimmering 1959 rendition of "I'll Never Smile Again" with Ray Ellis & His Orchestra. Included alongside these original recordings are a handful of contemporary instrumentals performed in a period-appropriate swing jazz style by the Sonhouse Allstars for incidental inclusion in the documentary. As a souvenir of the film, Billie works quite well. That said, one could quibble with some of the choices, such as picking the 1950 Jenkins arrangement of "God Bless the Child" over her original 1941 version, which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1976. Nonetheless, in terms of sheer listenability and as a documentation of her career arc, Billie is a fine introduction to Holiday's work.
© Matt Collar /TiVo
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Everett Barksdale, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Johnny Mince, Alto Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Joe Benjamin, Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Billie Holiday, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Sy Oliver, Conductor - Jimmy Crawford, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Billy Kyle, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Sy Oliver & His Orchestra, FeaturedArtist - Bernie Privin, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Curtis Reginald Lewis, ComposerLyricist - Artie Drelinger, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Sid Cooper, Alto Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Pat Nizza, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1950 UMG Recordings, Inc.
ROB MOUNSEY, Arranger, Work Arranger - Billie Holiday, Author - Gordon Jenkins, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Charles LaVere, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Nick Fatool, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Milt Gabler, Producer - Arthur Herzog Jr., Composer - Bob Bain, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra, MainArtist - Lou Butterman, Upright Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Dent Eckels, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Rob Fahie, Adapter
℗ 1950 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Thierry Van Durme, Producer, Recording Producer - Jel Jongen, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Sal La Rocca, Bass, AssociatedPerformer - WERNER PENSAERT, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Jo Hermans, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Wietse Meys, Clarinet, Saxophone, Rhythm Arranger, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Mimi Verderame, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Tim De Jonghe, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Seth Foster, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - André Donni, Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - Paul-Edouard Laurendeau, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - David Thomaere, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - The Sonhouse All Stars, MainArtist
℗ 2020 Reliance Entertainment Productions Documentary Ltd.
Billie Holiday, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Eddie Delange, Author - Louis Alter, Composer - Bobby Tucker, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Denzil Best, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - John Simmons, Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Bob Dorsey, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Teddy Brannon, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Lem Davis, Alto Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - John Simmons & His Orchestra, Musical Director, FeaturedArtist - Rostelle Reese, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1951 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Thierry Van Durme, Producer, Recording Producer - Jel Jongen, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Sal La Rocca, Bass, AssociatedPerformer - WERNER PENSAERT, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Jo Hermans, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Wietse Meys, Clarinet, Saxophone, Rhythm Arranger, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Mimi Verderame, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Tim De Jonghe, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Seth Foster, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - André Donni, Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - Paul-Edouard Laurendeau, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - David Thomaere, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - The Sonhouse All Stars, MainArtist
℗ 2020 Reliance Entertainment Productions Documentary Ltd.
Sonny White, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Billie Holiday, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - John Williams, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Milt Gabler, Producer - Tab Smith, Alto Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra, MainArtist - Frank Newton, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Eddie Dougherty, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1939 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Sonny White, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Billie Holiday, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - John Williams, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Milt Gabler, Producer - Lewis Allan, ComposerLyricist - Tab Smith, Alto Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra, MainArtist - Frank Newton, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Eddie Dougherty, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Stanley Payne, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1939 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Romeo Penque, Clarinet, Double Bass, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Joe Benjamin, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Ray Ellis, Producer, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Arthur Johnston, ComposerLyricist - Sam Coslow, ComposerLyricist - Jimmy Cleveland, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Osie Johnson, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Billie Holiday, MainArtist - Hank Jones, Keyboards, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Kenny Burrell, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Ray Ellis and His Orchestra, MainArtist - Janet Putnam, Harp, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1959 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Mundell Lowe, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Billie Holiday, MainArtist - Jacques Charles, ComposerLyricist - Maurice Yvain, ComposerLyricist - Milt Gabler, Producer - Bobby Tucker, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - John Levy, Upright Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Denzil Best, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Channing Pollock, ComposerLyricist - Albert Lucien Willemetz, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1949 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Barney Kessel, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Billie Holiday, MainArtist - RAY BROWN, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - AL DUBIN, ComposerLyricist - Harry Warren, ComposerLyricist - Oscar Peterson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Alvin Stoller, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Charlie Shavers, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Flip Phillips, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Norman Granz, Producer
℗ 1952 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Romeo Penque, Clarinet, Double Bass, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Joe Benjamin, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Ray Ellis, Producer, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Jimmy Cleveland, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Osie Johnson, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Billie Holiday, MainArtist - Hank Jones, Keyboards, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Ruth Lowe, ComposerLyricist - Kenny Burrell, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Ray Ellis and His Orchestra, MainArtist - Janet Putnam, Harp, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1959 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Billie Holiday, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Carl Drinkard, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Carson Smith, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Coleman Hawkins, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Kenny Burrell, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Chico Hamilton, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Arthur Herzog Jr., ComposerLyricist - Tony Scott, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Roy Eldridge, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Norman Granz, Producer
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
George Gershwin, ComposerLyricist - Ira Gershwin, ComposerLyricist - Mundell Lowe, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Dubose Heyward, ComposerLyricist - Billie Holiday, MainArtist - Milt Gabler, Producer - Bob Haggart, Musical Director - Bobby Tucker, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - John Levy, Upright Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Denzil Best, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1949 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Album review
The soundtrack to the 2020 Billie Holiday documentary, Billie brings together a nice cross-section of the legendary singer's output from her early work in the 1930s to just before her death in the 1950s. The music correlates nicely with the director James Erskine's film, which works to illuminate Holiday's groundbreaking career, as well as her troubled personal life. Included on the soundtrack are a handful of what are largely considered Holiday's most important recordings. Chief among them is her landmark 1939 recording of "Strange Fruit," a haunting protest ballad against the lynching of black people that many believe helped to ignite the Civil Rights Movement. Also featured are a handful of her other classic studio recordings, including 1939's "Fine and Mellow," 1950's "God Bless the Child" with the Gordon Jenkins vocal group, and her live 1956 performance of "Don't Explain" captured at Carnegie Hall. We also get her swinging 1949 take on "Now or Never" with Sy Oliver & His Orchestra and her shimmering 1959 rendition of "I'll Never Smile Again" with Ray Ellis & His Orchestra. Included alongside these original recordings are a handful of contemporary instrumentals performed in a period-appropriate swing jazz style by the Sonhouse Allstars for incidental inclusion in the documentary. As a souvenir of the film, Billie works quite well. That said, one could quibble with some of the choices, such as picking the 1950 Jenkins arrangement of "God Bless the Child" over her original 1941 version, which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1976. Nonetheless, in terms of sheer listenability and as a documentation of her career arc, Billie is a fine introduction to Holiday's work.
© Matt Collar /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 13 track(s)
- Total length: 00:39:15
- Main artists: Billie Holiday The Sonhouse All Stars
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Verve
- Genre: Jazz Vocal Jazz
© 2020 UMG Recordings, Inc. This Compilation ℗ 2020 UMG Recordings, Inc.
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