The Sound of Jazz brought together 32 leading musicians - a Who's Who of the swing era - including Count Basie, Lester Young, Ben Webster, Billie Holiday, Jo Jones and Coleman Hawkins; the Chicago style players of the same era, like Henry "Red" Allen, Vic Dickenson, and Pee Wee Russell; and younger 'modernist' musicians such as Gerry Mulligan, Thelonious Monk, and Jimmy Giuffre. These players played separately with their compatriots, but also joined to combine various styles in one group, such as Red Allen's group and the group backing Billie Holiday on "Fine and Mellow". This program was originally presented by "The Seven Lively Arts" on December 8, 1957 over CBS Television Sunday. This session is different music from the broadcast, as it was recorded for release by Columbia Records.

Most of the songs on this session were originally released on 10-inch vinyl in 1952 under the title "Billie Holiday Sings"; four additional tunes were added to this 1956 LP version, now renamed "Solitude". Holiday is backed by some impressive musicians including Oscar Peterson on piano, Ray Brown on double bass, Barney Kessel on guitar and drummer Alvin Stoller on these standards, among them "Blue Moon" and "I Only Have Eyes For You".

The first popular jazz singer to move audiences with the intense, personal feeling of classic blues, Billie Holiday changed the art of American pop vocals forever.

The title track is one of the most recorded jazz songs in history and Billie Holiday's interpretation on this 1957 release is arguably considered one of the best, if not the definitive version. Producer Norman Granz brings out the best of her voice on this album from late in her career, accompanied by a superb band that includes Ben Webster on tenor sax.

"Stay with Me" is an album by jazz singer Billie Holiday accompanied by Tony Scott and his Orchestra. It contains a whole recording session of February 14, 1955 in New York, and released in 1958 on producer Norman Granz' Verve label.

This compilation features the songs performed by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, Nina Simone, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, and many more…

Billie Holiday's recordings for Commodore Records have been overshadowed to a large part by her Verve and Columbia offerings, but this collection recorded in 1944 deserves a place alongside her better known albums. Includes the first version of her first hit and signature song, the racially-charged "Strange Fruit".

Lady In Satin is Billie Holiday’s penultimate masterpiece. The 1958 gem is one of her finest achievements and a full display of her immortal vocal abilities. Joined by the Ray Ellis Orchestra, Holiday dazzles on tunes including “For Heaven's Sake”, “You Don't Know What Love Is” and “I'm A Fool To Want You.” The album is one of Holiday’s personal favorites and an emotional listen from start to finish. It is one of jazz’s bestselling albums and was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. Absolutely essential.

A delicate and deeply felt collection of recordings, originally released to coincide with the publication of Billie’s autobiography in 1956. In the years since the album title has been appropriated on a number of Billie Holiday collections, but the original album has never been on CD until 2007.

After the publication of her autobiography, Lady Sings The Blues, Billie Holiday was doing good business in clubs in what turned out to be a last burst of stardom. We cannot know why she stopped recording for Norman Granz after January 1957 - but the present collection is a magnificent culmination of her years with the producer.

Most of the songs on this session were originally released on 10-inch vinyl in 1952 under the title Billie Holiday Sings; four additional tunes were added to this 1956 LP version, now renamed Solitude. Holiday is backed by some impressive musicians including Oscar Peterson on piano, Ray Brown on double bass, Barney Kessel on guitar and drummer Alvin Stoller on these standards, among them Blue Moon and I Only Have Eyes For You.

It is undeniable that Billie Holiday's singing changed in her later years. Her voice darkened an shifted to a lower range. Her economy of means distilled her sound to its expressive essence – a kind of heightened speech. The classic LP Songs For Distingué 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. This legendary recording features the singer's best studio work of the Fifties.

This 1956 album of standards from Billie Holiday has long been out of print, despite receiving a five star review in DownBeat magazine when released. Holiday was always very demanding about the quality of her musicians and this session was no exception; she is backed by a superb sextet that features Benny Carter on alto sax, Harry “Sweets” Edison on trumpet, Barney Kessel on guitar and Larry Bunker on drums.

A live album from the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival, this album combines individual performances recorded at separate shows two days apart from two of the most popular female singers of the era. Billie Holiday is backed by Mal Waldron on piano, Joe Benjamin on double bass and drummer Jo Jones; Ella Fitzgerald's band includes Don Abney on piano, Wendell Marshall on double bass and Jones again on drums.

The first popular jazz singer to move audiences with the intense, personal feeling of classic blues, Billie Holiday changed the art of American pop vocals forever.