"Anyone wanting a compilation that encapsulates the essence of Billie Holiday could do a lot worse (and spend a lot more) than this 2-CD set, which charts her recording career in broadly chronological order over two decades. The first CD is set in the latter half of the thirties, when she recorded with studio groups organised by pianist Teddy Wilson, drawn from whichever band happened to be in New York at the time.
Backing musicians included Roy Eldridge, Buck Clayton, Bunny Berigan, Artie Shaw, Lester Young, Benny Goodman, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Ben Webster, Cozy Cole, and Gene Krupa. They were issued either as Teddy Wilson & his Orchestra, in which case her vocal fell in the mid-section, or as Billie Holiday & her Orchestra, when she sang the introduction and the ride-out.
The second CD finds her accompanied by a variety of groups, and her earlier joie de vivre gives way slowly to a more worldly-wise approach, which imparts a depth of feeeling to the lyrics that is almost painful to listen to.
She made these songs her own, and it's her definitive version that we recall in such standards as "I Must Have That Man" and "You Go To My Head". Much as I love the jazz accompaniments of the thirties, it's her rendition of "I Loves You Porgy" and "My Man" accompanied just by pianist Bobby Tucker and his trio, that move me the most."
Track Listings (25) - Disc #1