Search - Billie Holiday :: Billie Holiday - 20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection (Eco-Friendly Packaging)

Skimpy, but well produced

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 08/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although not generously packed with tons of material, this is a thoughtfully-programmed selection of Holiday's later, non-Columbia material. Ten tracks, drawn from various sessions at Decca, Commodore, Clef and Verve, starting with "Strange Fruit" and ending with a 1956 live version of "God Bless The Child." This set is nice in that it avoids the usual emphasis on her difficult-sounding later performances, avoiding the tragedy-laced version of her career in favor of a more positive, musically triumphant telling of the tale. For a budget-line release, it's pretty darn nice."

The Definitive Billie Holiday Collection!!!!

Johnny Boy | Hockessin, DE | 03/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I saw this while browsing at my local record store, I had to buy it. It had all the classics in 1 small package. It was an excellent value at only $8.99! Wow!



This CD (along with many other CDs in the Millennium Collection series) is an excellent value for the new or casual fan of Billie Holiday. It's remastered too so the sound quality is excellent. I loved the CD, especially Don't Explain (my all-time favorite Billie song) and Good Morning Heartache. The CD is WAY better than Ken Burns JAZZ Collection! *Highly recommended!*



If you liked this one, check out these titles from Billie Holiday:



This Is Jazz Volume 32: Billie Holiday Sings Standards

16 Most Requested Songs

Swing Brother Swing!

I'll Get By



I borrowed all of these other CDs from my local library (a great way to expand your digital library of classic jazz for no charge). They were pretty good. But none of these can match 20th Century Masters-Billie Holiday. This is the one Billie Holiday CD I wanted to keep for my own collection. Her voice, her style, her songs are so powerful and beautiful - all of these attributes are wonderfully displayed on this collection. Enjoy!



12 Tracks 41:05 total time~Hip-O/Verve 24.bit remastering."

Simplicity Like A Blow

Matthew Burkholder | USA | 04/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the very first jazz record I have ever bought or listened to, and I decided to write my review with the first listen still fresh in my mind. It's not that I was avoiding jazz; I was simply never exposed to it. What can I say, I stand before you unmasked as the Philistine that I am! Certainly then it must seem a bit presumptuous of me, a jazz illiterate if ever there was one, to offer any criticism good or bad. But on the other hand, who can give you the more honest reaction: the man who has studied, weighed and evaluated jazz for four decades, or the man whose ignorance precludes the possibility of bias?



The word 'Diva' gets tossed around a lot these days. It is frequently misapplied to singers like Whitney Houston or Celine Dion, two performers who are unquestionably talented, but not as much as their hype would lead us to believe. Chockingly, it is also used to describe Cher, a woman who this reviewer feels is unfit to Chine Billie's Choes.



Because Billie...ah, Billie, SHE'S a Diva! This woman's voice is hypnotic, a Lucky Strike soaked in honey and absinthe. The songs are unaffected and powerful in a way only authenticity makes possible; Billie makes you FEEL her songs without resorting to histrionics. I am thoroughly convinced the Lady lived the blues long before she got around to singing 'em. The somewhat sparse musical arrangments are an absolute joy to listen to, and lend themselves incredibly well to Billie's voice. The horns almost seem to lead the listener simply by Suggestion, allowing Billie's voice to take center stage while the instruments mould themselves around her smokey lyrics like cognac poured across the rocks. I am completely smitten by this wonderful singer! Unwind in style with the music of a vanished era!"