Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection

She didn't swing or scat like Ella Fitzgerald, and she lacked the operatic chops of Sarah Vaughan or the sheer power of Bessie Smith, but any jazzbo will tell you that Billie Holiday belonged in the same pantheon of vocal greats. Holiday's style and sound (characterized by singing behind the beat, a deep affinity for the blues, and a tendency to wear both her sophistication and her suffering on her sleeve) are well represented on this superb disc, which combines film and TV performances, audio clips, and an excellent set of bonus features. The eight filmed tracks chronicle the singer's path from lovely 20-year-old (a 1935 "music video" with Holiday acting and singing to the accompaniment of Duke Ellington's "Saddest Tale") to the drug-and-alcohol-ravaged casualty of 1958 (with a version of "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" from the long-forgotten TV show Art Ford's Jazz Party). In between are two tunes with Louis Armstrong from the film New Orleans, three clips from the TV show Stars of Jazz, and what is no doubt Holiday's best-known performance on film, the 1957 "Fine and Mellow." The five audio-only performances, with Holiday leading her own orchestra and in various all-star settings, are also memorable. Bonus features include audio interviews (one from 1956 features Holiday and Mike Wallace), an exhaustive discography, and a beautifully rendered timeline that details her entire life, with links to photos and printed material. Only the omission of Holiday's renowned TV performance of "Strange Fruit" keeps this DVD from living up to its "ultimate" title. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Graham)