06 February 2010

Live Lady Day

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded Winter Solstice 2014. Enjoy, NØ

 

I’ve never been much of a couch potato. Never really got strung out on the stuff the Church of the Cathode Ray Tube peddled as the opiate of the ‘new masses’. Recently did away with cable TV altogether following the Media Domination of so-called 'REALITY’ programming. Just couldn’t see the point of paying money I can scarce afford for mass quantities of somebody else’s reality. Since I strive in all else I do to escape self-same reality, it seemed kinda counter-productive. Switched instead to Netflix new system that allows me to instantly watch movies & TV episodes online on my computer or streamed instantly from Netflix over the Internet right to my TV via a Netflix ready device.

Now whenever I have a few moments with nothing to do but absorb some mindless input, I can flip on the tube & there’s Theo Kojak, Carl Kolchak, Dr. Who (yes, Tom Baker) anytime I want. Way kool.

Lately been mostly watching Ken Burns great documentary series, Jazz. It’s been absolutely fantastic. I remembering watching parts of it when it was aired on PBS some years back, but to be forced to week after week free up the same time slot is always too much for my kinetic sporadic life. I’ve never been good with any ‘mini-series’ type event. Shit, it took me years to finally see all the Twin Peaks episodes & that’s David Lynch, for Satan’s sake. So I missed a fair share of the Jazz series the first time around. This new ‘on-demand’ way of viewing is perfect for me. I can watch, enjoy, & absorb at my own pace.

All this in way of preface to this great slab of musick history, inspired by Ken Burns & Lester Young (who gave young Billie her ‘Lady Day’ sobriquet). This material was recorded in 1951 in Boston at Storyville, a night club owned by George Wein (the man behind the Newport Jazz Festival). The recording was discovered after more than a decade (& after Billie’s untimely death in 1959) & finally released in 1964 by Recording Industries Corporation on their Posterity Series (RIC...not just a recording...an experience). Not only was this a newly discovered unreleased recording, but it was also one of the relatively few occasions when Billie Holiday was recorded “live” during an actual set at a club.

Nat Hentoff writes: “One of the Holiday myths, as perpetuated by some critics, is that Billie had declined as an artist by the 1950s. It is true that her range (never more than about one octave - NØ) had narrowed & that there were nights when the texture of her voice was bruised & torn as her spirit sometimes became. But the essence of Billie Holiday’s nonpariel skill & the power of her impact never came primarily from only technical expertise. Far more than any jazz singer of her time (or any time - NØ), Billie’s strength was in her capacity to so deeply personalize the songs she sang that the very act of performing was a fragment of autobiography.”

One of the wonderful things about this recording is the variety here, the range of mood & style encompassed by these songs. The bitter anger of “Strange Fruit”, the resilient toughness of “Billie’s Blues”, the sensuality of “Miss Brown to You”, the rueful memories of “Lover Man” are all represented here & given that otherworldly touch of the great Ms. Holiday. She gave musick a universality that is unequaled, in the history of jazz or any other musickal genre. She was & is simply the best.

& remember, though you may know these songs from other sources, you heard this great recording here first.

Billie Holiday - A Rare Live Recording of..., RIC Records M2001, 1964.
decryption code in comments

Side One -
Billie’s Blues
Lover Man
Them There Eyes
My Man
I cover the Waterfront
Crazy He Calls Me
Lover Come Back to Me
Side Two -
Detour Ahead
Strange Fruit
Drivin’ Me Crazy
Ain’t Nobody’s Business if I Do
All of Me
I Love You Porgy
Miss Brown to You

Enjoy,

10 comments:

  1. Streaming direct from PC to TV seems like the way ahead. I'd never get away with it in this house, though.

    We all watch too much TV as it is. And I'm drowning in that 'reality' crap. The talent show karaoke too.

    Right now, we don't pay for multi channels on our 'freeview' box, but we're still saddled to the BBC license fee like a bunch of serfs from the Dark Ages. A bit galling when their output has all but dropped to such highlights as "Celebrity Dancing On Ice" and the "National Lottery Special".

    I am a documentary junkie. That; cop shows; anything with a thread of gore and a halloween sickle moon.

    Tom Baker was alright. Sean Pertwee was better. Viva Telly Savalas.

    Daytime TV sucks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That Ken Burns Jazz stuff is great.

    ReplyDelete
  3. what a treasure....i'm looking after my old dad these days since he had a stroke, and this is something we can really enjoy together...
    all the best,
    d

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great blog, amazing finds, thank you. Unfortunately this link is dead, and I was so looking forward to hearing this, I’m a great fan of hers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. to anonymous,
      Thanks for the kind words.
      My computer crashed & I am just getting back up to speed.
      I will try to re-upload this to mediafire in the next
      day or two. Watch here or at my main page.

      Delete
  5. And here I find Ms Holiday! Thanks NØ. Did you get the Trailer Trash zine in the mail?

    ReplyDelete
  6. MEGA decryption code
    vKwLLDhY9Td6aqonwjN1V4CM6NDoa-lFQZAQ9yLa5xA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. dear, the validation code is invalid. thanks for the attention!

      Delete
    2. Just checked & the decryption code is working fine.

      Copy the code from the comment above or here:
      vKwLLDhY9Td6aqonwjN1V4CM6NDoa-lFQZAQ9yLa5xA

      Click the link (album title beneath the cover art) & paste the code when prompted by MEGA.

      Delete