Happy Birthday, Billie Holiday

Jazz singer Billie Holiday was born on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "Lady Day," as she was known, was (according to critic John Bush) the "first popular jazz singer to move audiences with the intense, personal feeling of classic blues, [and she] changed the art of American pop vocals forever."

Len Lyons said that Holiday "could transform the most banal pop ballad into a painfully intense, subtle work of art." In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Lyons recommends the album, The Billie Holiday Story, Vol. 2 (Columbia). Unfortunately, this album is not available in CD or MP3 format.

Instead, Jim Determan recommends several alternatives, including the 10-CD set and the 2-CD set listed below:

• Billie Holiday: Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia, 1933-1944 (Sony, 10 CDs), available from Amazon.com.
  
• Billie Holiday: Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday (Sony, 2 CDs), available from Amazon.com.

Holiday sings one of her best known songs, "God Bless the Child," here:

Robert
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