1958 · Album
Stay With Me
Recorded February 14, 1955, New York City · Verve · Produced by Norman Granz
Late Holiday, Quiet Strength in Strings
A worn but still commanding Billie Holiday, sung over Tony Scott's small, unhurried orchestra.
Stay With Me opens with the sound of a small band settling into a slow, smoky groove, Tony Scott's clarinet curling around the edges while Billie Holiday enters with a voice that has thinned and roughened over the years but has lost none of its dramatic grip. The tempos mostly sit in a relaxed middle range, the arrangements are spare, and the mood is late-night and intimate, the kind of record you put on when the room has emptied out.
The session took place on February 14, 1955, in New York, and the material was released in 1958 on Norman Granz's Verve label. The band features Billy Taylor on piano, Billy Bauer on electric guitar, Leonard Gaskin on double bass, Cozy Cole on drums, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, and Budd Johnson on tenor saxophone, with Scott leading the group. Scott's presence gives the date a slightly different color from the small-group sessions Holiday was known for, and his clarinet work is a pleasure to hear against her phrasing.
AllMusic reviewer Ron Wynn gave the album 4.5 out of 5 and wrote that Holiday "was fading, but hadn't lost the dramatic quality in her delivery, nor her ability to project and tell a shattering story." That is a fair summary. This is not her peak, and listeners new to her should start with earlier Columbia or Verve material, but for committed fans this is a moving late chapter that rewards close attention.
Who's playing
Leonard Gaskindouble bass
Billy Taylorpiano
Billy Bauerelectric guitar
Budd Johnsontenor saxophone
Charlie Shaverstrumpet
Cozy Coledrums
Tony Scottclarinet
