Billie Sunday, no.2

Billie & Basie -- 20 years after their first recordings together
Image from the Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College

Billie Holiday toured with Count Basie and His Orchestra from early 1937 to early 1938. This was one of those matches made in jazz heaven, for Basie’s band -- featuring (among the many great players) Lester Young (ts), Herschel Evans (ts), and Buck Clayton (t), with the Count keeping the keys busy -- could swing you right out the damn building if they wanted to, and Billie was already known for her righteous sense of rhythm. With Basie’s band she would become known as “The Lady Who Swung the Band.” Sadly, this collaboration only produced three recordings: “Swing, Brother, Swing,” “They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” and “I Can’t Get Started.” The reasons for Holiday leaving the band are disputed (and you can find thorough discussions of the split in two essential Billie bios: Donald Clarke’s Wishing on the Moon and Robert O’Meally’s Lady Day: The Many Faces of Billie Holiday), but the reason for the lack of records made is not: Basie and Billie were signed to different labels, ruling out the possibility of studio work together. But those three sides! I’m going with “Swing, Brother, Swing” for this post. Billie practically sets the house on fire, singing like a woman who knew exactly what she wanted and wasn’t wasting any time on “foolish prattle” getting there.

Billie Holiday & Count Basie - Swing, Brother, Swing [buy]