Billie Holiday: Me, Myself and I
Track
Me, Myself and I
Group
Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra
CD
Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933-1944 (Columbia/Legacy CXX 85470)
Musicians:
Billie Holiday (vocals), Buck Clayton (trumpet), Edmond Hall (clarinet), Lester Young (tenor sax), Freddie Green (guitar), Walter Page (bass), Jo Jones (drums),
James Sherman (piano)
.Composed by Irving Gordon, Alvin S. Kaufman and Allan Roberts
.Recorded: New York, June 15, 1937
Rating: 100/100 (learn more)
“Me, Myself and I” is one of the great classics of the Billie Holiday-Lester Young collaborations. The song is recorded here in the key of D major, which rather appropriately is associated with vigor and clarity of expression in classical music -- a feeling sustained through both available takes made available on the Columbia/Legacy set. Over the years there has been some confusion over their identification – take 1 ends on the tonic; take 2 on the dominant, which is sorted out on this set. Part of the Holiday-Young magic is the way their collaborations often go beyond “leading voice”-“accompaniment” roles into the realms of a duet. Who can say which of the two lines predominates here? An added frisson is added by the presence of Freddie Green, then Holiday’s lover. How would history have read if she had settled for steady Freddie?
Reviewer: Stuart Nicholson
If you liked this track, also check out
Billie Holiday: Good Morning Heartache
Billie Holiday & Lester Young: All of Me
Madeleine Peyroux: Once In a While
Related Links
Billie Holiday: Rare and Live by Ted Gioia
The Dozens: Twelve Essential Billie Holiday Performances by Stuart Nicholson
Billie Holiday by Stuart Nicholson (from The Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians)
Tags: 1930s jazz · jazz vocals
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