Ken Burns Jazz: Billie Holiday
This greatest-hits collection accompanies Ken Burns's 10-part documentaryJazzand shows that though she never practiced the vocal gymnastics of anElla Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday was unquestionably among the greatest jazz singers, with a subtle inventiveness in phrasing and note choice and a tremendous capacity to swing. This collection covers virtually the entire career of a fascinating and troubled artist, beginning with her sparkling mid-1930s recordings with pianistTeddy Wilsonand the cream of swing-era horn players. While those fresh-voiced early records already indicate Holiday's capacity for conveying the nuances of a lyric, her work soon took on greater drama. "Strange Fruit," a 1939 account of a lynching, marked a breakthrough in the popular song, as well as in Holiday's career, and her controlled intensity only becomes more marked on signature songs like the wistful "God Bless the Child" and the moving "Don't Explain." Holiday's voice deteriorated in the later 1950s, but performances like "Fine and Mellow" show that her emotional power and musicality remained intact.--Stuart Broomer