Album
The Commodore Master Takes
2000Jazz · Music · Vocal · Traditional Pop · Vocal Jazz · Easy Listening · Swing · Blues · Chicago Blues · Standards
The idiosyncratic jazz singer finds her smoky, low-slung groove.
Tracks
- 13:12
- 23:24
- 33:16
- 42:49
- 52:43
- 63:05
- 72:58
- 83:33
- 93:33
- 103:18
- 113:18
- 123:14
- 133:18
- 143:19
- 153:07
- 163:01
About this album
Turning to Commodore Records after Columbia passed on releasing the racism-lamenting ballad “Strange Fruit”, Billie Holiday wound up cutting a prized run of heart-wrenching sides for the smaller label. “I Cover the Waterfront” captures her distinctive balance of whimsy and sadness, while the self-deprecating “Billie’s Blues” makes the most of her famously idiosyncratic phrasing. Stripped down to intimate backing, these 16 tracks find Holiday escaping the bluster of big bands to settle into a smoky, low-slung groove that she’d return to for years to come.