Holiday, Billie: Songs For Distingue Lovers (Acoustic Sounds Series) LP

It's undeniable that Billie Holiday's singing changed in her later years. Her voice darkened and shifted to a lower range. Her economy of means distilled her sound to its expressive essence, a kind of heightened speech. The classic 1957 Verve release Songs For Distingue Lovers, has also deepened and become burnished with time. Maybe it's that still-arresting word distingué; maybe it's that iconic, tinted image of Lady Day on the cover.

Comprised of the last five studio dates Billie cut for Verve, it finds Lady Day operating within a small jazz combo accompanied by a legendary line-up which includes Harry 'Sweets' Edison (trumpet), Ben Webster (tenor sax), Jimmy Rowles (piano), Barney Kessel (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass) and Alvin Stoller (drums). Holiday wraps her phrasing around standards by Rodgers & Hart, The Gershwins and Cole Porter here, demonstrating her one of a kind ability to turn a song on its head through slight fluctuations in pitch and tone.