Lady Day: The Master Takes & Singles (4CD)

It's fitting that singer Billie Holiday began the most celebrated part of her career with Columbia in 1933, when the country was in the throes of the depression, and ended it in 1942, when the world was gripped by war. Her anguished delivery fit in perfectly with the times. As she projected the torments of her life through music, she gave us an escape from our own troubles, by reminding us of how bad life could get. Regardless, Holiday's sublime Columbia recordings, which originally appeared on the Brunswick, Vocalion and Okeh labels, are among the true treasures of jazz. The complete recordings were released a few years ago in a mammoth box set. This four CD collection pares the material down considerably, although the producers have not just taken the cream of the crop. In the tradition of many warts and all Columbia sets, this one features the master takes and singles released during the period. Without any true explanation of what this means (the remaining tracks from the original set weren't alternates) this gives a more complete picture of the recording landscape of the time. The majority of Holiday's records during the time were made for jukeboxes, and thus follow a fairly predictable format in presentation and length. In addition, almost everyone at the time had to record some inferior material, and Holiday was no exception; for every Night And Day there are at least two songs that weren't worth much more than the paper that they were printed on.