Velvet Arrangements, Weary Voice, Late Night Grace
Holiday, hushed and unhurried, sings close to the ear over Riddle-era restraint and Ben Webster's breathy tenor.
Songs for Distingué Lovers opens the way a late-night record should: low volume, a slow pulse, and Billie Holiday's voice sitting right up against the microphone. The band moves at a walking, unhurried pace, with bass and brushed drums keeping time while guitar, piano, and muted trumpet drift in and out of the frame. Nothing is loud. The arrangements leave wide gaps, and Holiday uses them, bending phrases and letting words hang rather than pushing for power.
The session was recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles in January 1957 and produced by Norman Granz for Verve, and it came out in 1958. The personnel is a West Coast studio group rather than her usual New York circle. Ben Webster's tenor saxophone is the standout accompaniment, slipping breathy, ruminative lines between her vocal phrases. Harry "Sweets" Edison's trumpet adds warmth, and Barney Kessel's guitar stays light and conversational. Jimmy Rowles keeps the piano spare, and the rhythm section of Joe Mondragon and Red Mitchell on bass with Alvin Stoller and Larry Bunker on drums holds everything steady.
By 1958 Holiday's voice had lost some of its range and lightness, and this record is honest about that. Critics have praised it for turning that wear into intimacy rather than hiding it. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings gave it four stars out of four, and The New Rolling Stone Album Guide gave it 3.5 out of 5. If you want to hear Holiday at her most fragile and direct, this is a strong place to be, though it is not the place to start. Begin with Lady in Satin (1958) or go back to her Commodore and Decca sides, then come here once you know what she sounded like at full strength.
Who's playing
Joe Mondragondouble bass
Red Mitchelldouble bass
Jimmy Rowlespiano
Barney Kesselguitar
Ben Webstertenor saxophone
Harry “Sweets” Edisontrumpet
Alvin Stollerdrums
Larry Bunkerdrums
Where next?
More by Billie Holiday
All 24 albums →
The musicians on this record
Coleman Hawkins encounters Ben Webster 1959
Ben Webster
plays tenor saxophone here
plays tenor saxophone here
Barney Kessel, Volume 3: "To Swing or Not to Swing" 1955
Barney Kessel
plays guitar here
plays guitar here
Bob Brookmeyer Featuring John Williams & Red Mitchell 1963
Red Mitchell
plays double bass here
plays double bass here
Weather in a Jazz Vane 1957
Jimmy Rowles
plays piano here
plays piano here
