Search - Billie Holiday :: V-Disc Recordings: A Musical Contribution by America's Best for Our Armed Forces Overse

Part of this CD is new and unable to be found elsewhere.

08/20/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The problem with CD's of this artist is that many of them contain already-printed recordings and have no documentation at all to help the collector. Such is partly the case here. I spent a few hours comparing this CD to others and to Phil Schaap's discography in the back of Stuart Nicholson's biography (Billie Holiday, Northeastern University Press, 1995), and my conclusion is that *some* of these tracks are new and unable to be found elsewhere. Track 1 is edit of an alternate take to the January 6 1938 recording, and may be hard to find outside of this disc. Tracks 2 and 3 seem very much live and very likely from the January 18 1944 Esquire All American Jazz Concert, and therefore *were* issued on V-Disc. Track 4 is live with Louis Armstrong. One reviewer suspects this of being from the soundtrack to 'New Orleans,' but I disagree. I think it's from the February 8 1947 Carnegie Hall concert, because a) on the track someone shouts, "Sid Catlett, Drums!" and Catlett did play that date but not in late 1946 for the soundtrack, and b) Armstrong sings a chorus but is not credited with a vocal for 1946. Further, track 8 is very likely from this same date as Armstrong introduces Holiday as "my costar in 'New Orleans. 'If I am correct, these were V-Discs. Alas, Tracks 5, 6, and 7 are simply the master takes from Nov. 1 1937, Aug 7 1941, and Sep. 12 1940, and not V-Discs at all. All in all, however, I am pleased to have this CD in my collection. I would not be able to find much of this material elsewhere, and like almost all Holiday performances, the artistry is exceptional. I would recommend this recording to my fellow collectors, but perhaps not to the average listener."