Billie Holiday, "Fine And Mellow"

This is generally acknowledged as the greatest jazz moment ever broadcast on national television. And with good reason. Billie Holiday is joined by an all-star band and delive

rs a deeply felt version of "Fine and Mellow." This was a song that Holiday seemed to sing better with the pas

sing years - not a claim one could make for most of her repertoire. But this is a world-weary composition, and no lady was more worldly or weary than Billie Holiday, circa 1957. Lester Young delivers a t

ouching solo that even moves the vocalist. His TV studio reunion with Holiday may have inspired him, but I have a hunch that the proximity of Coleman Hawkins and Ben W

ebster in the room (these being the real three tenors by the measure of any swing jazz fan) may have had something to do with it too.

Link:

Billie Holiday (1957) Fine and Mellow Video

The Sound of Jazz

Billie Holiday performed Fine and Mellow

Roy Eldridge (trumpet) 6th solo
Doc Cheatham (trumpet)
Vic Dickenson (trombone) 3rd solo
Lester Young (tenor sax) 2nd solo
Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax) 1st and 5th solos
Ben Webster (tenor sax)
Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax) 4th solo
Danny Barker (guitar)
Mal Waldron (piano)
Milt Hinton (bass)
Osie Johnson (drums)

Mal Waldron - Impressions

Mal Waldron (August 16, 1926 – December 2, 2002) was an American jazz and world music pianist and composer.

Born in New York City, his jazz work was chiefly in the hard bop, post-bop and free jazz genres. He is known for his distinctive chord voicings and adaptable style, which was originally inspired by the playing of Thelonious Monk.

Personnel:

Mal Waldron, piano;

Addison Farmer, bass;

Albert “Tootie” Heath, drums

Recorded in Hackensack, New Jersey, March 20, 1959.

Tracks:

1. Les Champs Elysées 6:22 (Mal Waldron)

2. All About Us 4:04 (Elaine Waldron)

3. Ciao! 9:55 (M. Waldron)

4. All the Way 5:47 (Cahn-Van Heusen)

5. With a Song in My Heart 6:38 (Rodgers-Hart)

6. You Stepped Out of a Dream 5:05 (Brown-Kahn)

7. Cest Formidable 3:40 (M. Waldron)

Mal Waldron Trio: Impressions (CD: New Jazz- US Import)
In his first three albums for Prestige, Mal Waldron utilized horns to present his ideas. Then he switched to a trio format. Impressions is the second of these and shows off both his playing and composing abilities. On the writing side, three related pieces entitled Overseas Suite are presented here, although they are not in consecutive order. Among the standards, “All the Way” came out of Billie Holiday’s liking for Frank Sinatra’s recording of the song. Waldron was Holiday’s accompanist at the time and, in fact, wrote Overseas Suite after returning from a European tour with Lady in 1958. Today Waldron is a global traveler with an enthusiastic following in Japan and Europe, as well as in the United States, where he has once again begun to make more frequent appearances since the Eighties. Impressions represents the beginning of that internationalism and, if you will, universality. (Fantasy, Inc.)