Billie Holiday – Solitude (1956/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Billie Holiday – Solitude (1956/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 38:39 minutes | 801 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Verve

Billie Holiday’s Solitude, originally Billie Holiday Sings, is comprised of tracks recorded with American jazz producer Norman Granz in 1952. The album features popular tunes “Blue Moon”, “Solitude”, “East Of The Sun (West Of The Moon)”, “I Only Have Eyes For You” and many more.

Most of the songs on this session were originally released on 10-inch vinyl in 1952 under the title Billie Holiday Sings; four additional tunes were added to this 1956 LP version, now renamed Solitude. Holiday is backed by some impressive musicians including Oscar Peterson on piano, Ray Brown on double bass, Barney Kessel on guitar and drummer Alvin Stoller on these standards, among them Blue Moon and I Only Have Eyes For You.

Billie Holiday’s first recordings for Norman Granz’ Clef Records present a vocalist truly at the top of her craft, although she would begin a rapid decline soon thereafter. This 1952 recording (originally issued as a 10″ LP, Billie Holiday Sings) places Holiday in front of small piano and tenor saxophone-led groups including jazz luminaries such as Oscar Peterson and Charlie Shavers, where her gentle phrasing sets the tone for the sessions, evoking lazy evenings and dreamy afternoons. The alcoholism and heroin use that would be her downfall by the end of this decade seems to be almost unfathomable during these recordings since Holiday is in as fine a voice as her work in the ’30s, and the musical environment seems ideal for these slow torch songs. Solitude runs as the common theme throughout these 16 tracks; the idle breathiness of “These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)” finds the vocalist casually reminiscing, and Barney Kessel’s warm guitar lines frame the title track beautifully. Several of Holiday’s best-known recordings came from this session, including outstanding versions of “I Only Have Eyes for You” and a darkly emotional “Love for Sale,” making this album far and away the best work of her later years, and certainly a noteworthy moment of her entire career. –Zac Johnson

Tracklist:

01. Billie Holiday – East Of The Sun (And West of the Moon) (02:54)
02. Billie Holiday – Blue Moon (03:27)
03. Billie Holiday – You Go To My Head (02:54)
04. Billie Holiday – You Turned The Tables On Me (03:26)
05. Billie Holiday – Easy To Love (02:59)
06. Billie Holiday – These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) (03:35)
07. Billie Holiday – I Only Have Eyes For You (02:53)
08. Billie Holiday – (In My) Solitude (03:27)
09. Billie Holiday – Everything I Have Is Yours (03:44)
10. Billie Holiday – Love For Sale (02:56)
11. Billie Holiday – Moonglow (02:59)
12. Billie Holiday – Tenderly (03:19)

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