Billie Holiday – A Fine Romance / Elap Music Audio CD 2000 / 16011CD

UPC 5708574360111

Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills.

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Born Eleanora Fagan in 1915 in Baltimore, Billie Holiday was the first and arguably greatest of jazz singers, if the essence of jazz singing is to make the familiar sound fresh and bring life to every lyric. Having made her recording debut in 1933, Holiday's career took off in 1935. She appeared in the film "Rhapsody In Black" with Duke Ellington, then made a sensational debut at the Apollo. July found her making the first of about 100 recordings (1935-42), nearly all with small groups led by Teddy Wilson, on which her legend rests. The songs were often second rate and even silly, but in her hands they were gold. At the first session she met pianist and soulmate Lester Young, whom she named Prez (for President); he titled her Lady Day. She sang with Count Basie in 1937 and Artie Shaw in '38, while subsequent recordings included "Strange Fruit" and "Lover Man". By the mid-'50s her range had narrowed but her unique timbre remained. She made a poignant appearance on CBS TV's "Sound Of Jazz" with Young and began recording for Columbia, but passed away in May '59. Her legacy is some of the finest, most moving songs ever recorded.