Billie [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

by Billie Holiday, The Sonhouse All Stars

Overview

The soundtrack to the 2020 Billie Holiday documentary, Billie brings together a nice cross-section of the legendary singer's output from her early work in the 1930s to just before her death in the 1950s. The music correlates nicely with the director James Erskine's film, which works to illuminate Holiday's groundbreaking career, as well as her troubled personal life. Included on the soundtrack are a handful of what are largely considered Holiday's most important recordings. Chief among them is her landmark 1939 recording of "Strange Fruit," a haunting protest ballad against the lynching of black people that many believe helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement. Also featured are a handful of her other classic studio recordings, including 1939's "Fine and Mellow," 1950's "God Bless the Child" with the Gordon Jenkins vocal group, and her live 1956 performance of "Don't Explain" captured at Carnegie Hall. We also get her swinging 1949 take on "Now or Never" with Sy Oliver & His Orchestra and her shimmering 1959 rendition of "I'll Never Smile Again" with Ray Ellis & His Orchestra. Included alongside these original recordings are a handful of contemporary instrumentals performed in a period-appropriate swing jazz style by the Sonhouse Allstars for incidental inclusion in the documentary. As a souvenir of the film, Billie works quite well and certainly offers a compelling introduction to Holiday's work. ~ Matt Collar

Product Details

Release Date:	11/13/2020
Label:	Verve
UPC:	0602435056685

Tracks

1. Now or Never
2. God Bless the Child
3. Hoppin¿¿¿ Around
4. The Blues Are Brewin'
5. Funeral in New Orleans
6. Fine and Mellow
7. Strange Fruit
8. Just One More Chance
9. My Man
10. I Only Have Eyes for You
11. I'll Never Smile Again
12. Don't Explain
13. Porgy

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Billie Holiday   Primary Artist,Vocals
The Sonhouse All Stars   Primary Artist
Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra   Primary Artist
John Simmons & His Orchestra   Primary Artist,Music Direction,Musical Director
Ray Ellis & His Orchestra   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Ray Ellis Orchestra   Primary Artist
Sy Oliver's Orchestra   Primary Artist
Billy Kyle   Piano
Alvin Stoller   Drums
Tab Smith   Sax (Alto)
Sy Oliver   Conductor
Bob Haggart   Musical Director
Kenny Burrell   Guitar (Electric)
Bobby Tucker   Piano
Everett Barksdale   Guitar
Tony Scott   Piano
Joe Benjamin   Bass,Double Bass
Carson Smith   Bass,Double Bass
Eddie Dougherty   Drums
Frankie Newton   Trumpet
Charlie Shavers   Trumpet
Janet Putnam   Harp
Bob Bain   Guitar
John Simmons   Bass
Johnny Mince   Sax (Alto)
Denzil Best   Drums
Ray Brown   Bass,Double Bass
Roy Eldridge   Trumpet
Jimmy Cleveland   Trombone
Jimmy Crawford   Drums
Nick Fatool   Drums
Osie Johnson   Drums
Oscar Peterson   Piano
Hank Jones   Piano,Celeste,Keyboards
Charles La Vere   Piano
Mundell Lowe   Guitar
Sid Cooper   Sax (Alto)
Sonny White   Piano
Chico Hamilton   Drums
Coleman Hawkins   Saxophone,Sax (Tenor)
Barney Kessel   Guitar (Electric)
Flip Phillips   Saxophone,Sax (Tenor)
Romeo Penque   Bass,Clarinet,Saxophone,Sax (Alto),Double Bass,Sax (Tenor)
Bernie Privin   Trumpet
Lou Butterman   Double Bass,Bass (Upright)
John Williams   Double Bass,Double Bass
Rostelle Reese   Trumpet
Sal La Rocca   Bass
Mimi Verderame   Drums
Lem Davis   Sax (Alto)
Art Drelinger   Sax (Tenor)
Carl Drinkard   Piano
Pat Nizza   Sax (Tenor)
Dent Eckels   Saxophone
Tom Smith   Sax (Alto)
Tim DeJonghe   Trumpet
Bob Dorsey   Sax (Tenor)
Stanley Payne   Sax (Tenor)
Jel Jongen   Trombone
Wietse Meys   Clarinet,Saxophone
Jo Hermans   Trumpet
John Levy   Double Bass,Bass (Upright)
Andre Donni   Clarinet
David Thomaere   Piano
Wierse Meys   Clarinet,Saxophone

Technical Credits

Seth Foster   Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Teddy Brannon   Recording Arranger
Billie Holiday   Composer,Lyricist
Eddie DeLange   Composer,Lyricist
Arthur Herzog, Jr.   Composer
Curtis Reginald Lewis   Composer
George Gershwin   Composer
Ira Gershwin   Composer
DuBose Heyward   Composer
Werner Pensaert   Mixing
Lewis Allan   Composer
Rob Mounsey   Arranger
Sam Coslow   Composer
Philip Bailey   Marketing
Norman Granz   Producer
Milt Gabler   Producer
Arthur Johnston   Composer
Al Dubin   Composer
Jacques Charles   Composer
Channing Pollack   Composer
Ruth Lowe   Composer
Louis Alter   Composer
Maurice Yvain   Composer
Ray Ellis   Arranger,Producer,Recording Arranger
Gordon Jenkins   Arranger,Recording Arranger
Albert Willemetz   Composer
Harry Warren   Composer
Mariana Amaral   Coloring
William Gottlieb   Photography
Thierry VanDurme   Producer,Music Supervisor,Recording Producer
Arthur Johnson   Composer
Tom Arndt   Producer,Release Coordinator
Ryan Rogers   Design,Creative Director
Don Hunstein   Photography
Paul-Edouard Laurendeau   Engineer,Recording
Rob Fahie   Adaptation,Musical Adaptation
Wietse Meys   Composer,Rhythm Arrangements
Femi Onafowokan   A&R
Melody Ewing   A&R
Natalie Weber   A&R
Wierse Meys   Arranger,Composer