Latter-day Holiday, and one of her last studio albums supervised by Norman Granz, Stay With Me places her in the sympathetic company of Charlie Shavers, Tony Scott, Budd Johnson, Billy Taylor, Billy Bauer, Leonard Gaskin and Cozy Cole.
Although her voice was deteriorating after years of drug and alcohol abuse, her delivery and interpretations of classic material remained second to none. Miles Davis reportedly said that “I’d rather hear Billie now [1955]. She has become much more mature than she was in 1937. And she still has control, probably more now than then.”
The anonymous liner-note reviewer of this album hit the mark with a perceptive comment on her continuing abilities and artistry. He or she talked of Holiday’s “musicianship, the jazz timbre of her voice, and the way she swings even as she talks (and) her capacity to communicate with a sometimes pitiless intelligence”. He or she said that via these qualities Holiday told us “more about the song than the composer could have guessed”.
Every track on the original album bears out this observation – try I Wished On The Moon, where she “talks” the introduction before raising the dreamy tempo – encouraged by a soulful Shavers. Tony Scott toots merrily on Ain’t Misbehavin’, and Billy Taylor (who replaced Carl Drinkard, originally chosen for the date) provides a rhythmic solo, followed by a brief statement from Budd Johnson. Say It Isn’t So picks up speed with encouragement from Shavers. A sprightly Love To Keep Me Warm swings gently from beginning to end, while Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me continues the groove, with Scott and Johnson providing brief comments. Strange Fruit (one of the three bonus tracks) is as harrowing and moving as any of her other recordings of the Abel Meeropol (Lewis Allen) lyrics depicting lynching in the deep south.
Discography
I Wished On The Moon; Ain’t Misbehavin’; Everything Happens To Me; How Deep Is The Ocean?, *I Cried For You (23.15) – Say It Isn’t So; *I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm; Always; Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me; *What A Little Moonlight Can Do; *Strange Fruit (22.20)
Holiday (v) on all tracks with Charlie Shavers (t); Tony Scott (cl); Budd Johnson (ts); Billy Taylor (p); Billy Bauer (g),; Leonard Gaskin (b); Cozy Cole (d). *Bonus tracks: Oscar Peterson (p); Herb Ellis (g); Ray Brown (b); Ed Shaughnessy (d). Or Wynton Kelly (p); Kenny Burrell (g); Aaron Bell (b); Lennie McBrowne (d). New York, 14 April 1954 and 6-7 June 1956.
Supper Club LP 046
