Billie Holiday Companion: Seven Decades of Commentary (Companion Series)

The ideal companion to shed light on Lady DayOne of the most troubling, and troubled, artists in the history of jazz, Billie Holiday remains an enigma despite numerous attempts to eulogize, analyze, and criticize her life and career. This fifth entry in the Schirmer Books Companion Series draws on 26 diverse writers, and on Holidays own interviews and recordings, to provide an objective assessment of Lady Days life, her talent, and of her place among the legends of jazz.

The legendary jazz vocalist is given the treatment she deserves in this thoughtful collection of essays, interviews, reviews, and news articles. The artistry of "Lady Day" is noted by such writers as Leonard Feather, Nat Hentoff, Ralph J. Gleason, Whitney Balliett, and Elizabeth Hardwick. An interview with John Hammond, the legendary Columbia Records executive who discovered Billie Holiday (among other music greats) is particularly insightful. This book is a must for Billie Holiday fans and will also serve as an excellent introduction to her body of work.