Fine and Mellow
Via Robot Wisdom Weblog, a link to a spectacular nine-minute video of Billie Holiday singing "Fine and Mellow" in 1957. Lester Young plays in the band, along with Coleman Hawkins and a host of other great players. Young and Holiday had a special relationship for many years, and this was the last time they performed together.This was filmed only two years before Holiday's death (in 1959, at age forty-four), but even with her voice nowhere near its peak, she's still mesmerizing.
I've said this before, but five hundred years from now, people will still be listening to Billie Holiday, and she will still sound brand new.
Here's the link: Fine and Mellow.
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