The Billie Holiday Collection 1935-42

Along with Ella Fitzgerald and other contemporaries like Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday was one of the great singers to emerge from the golden age of jazz singing as a premier exponent of an art form which often crossed over into the popular music world, although this crossover very rarely compromised the artistic integrity we associate them. This collection traces an important seven years of her early recording career which built the platform for the huge commercial success she enjoyed during the mid to late 40s, before she began to succumb to the lifestyle which eventually destroyed her. It contains recordings with Teddy Wilson, Count Basie and Artie Shaw’s bands, as well as her own orchestra, and featuring musicians like her close associate Lester Young, and demonstrates her unique and unmistakable way of interpreting the songs. It is a fascinating and beguiling musical journey. Comprising 100 tracks on a 4-CD collection, this is a comprehensive and coherent overview of the formative era in the career of one of the great jazz vocalists. This collection comprises all the tracks previously available on the five Acrobat CDs “The Incomparable Billie Holiday” Volumes 1-5 (ACRCD112-116).