The Essential Billie Holiday

据说很少有人在聆听比莉哈乐黛的现场后，不会感动落泪的，因为这位爵士乐界最具传奇色彩的歌后，在演唱时总辐散出字字句句心声泪痕；她的音乐感人之处源自肺腑，而非唱腔表面的凋饰，因为，永远被无数后辈歌手视做最崇敬对象的比莉哈乐黛，确实是用她的悲剧性生命写下并吟唱出每一个音符。不平凡的人，似乎注定该有着不平凡的遭遇，生于1915年的比莉哈乐黛，呱呱坠地之时父母都还只是未成年的孩子，在没有父母关爱与暴力阴霾的环境下，十岁时惨遭强暴，不久又被卖为雏妓，十八岁的她就尝遍了人生的酸甜苦辣。然而多舛的血泪童年，并没有让比莉对人生抱持以怨怼的的态度，她不但没有自甘堕落，相反地，更磨鍊出自我尊严的珍视与坚毅不服输的个性。在那个女性极受不平等对待的时代裡，在酒馆当女侍谋生的比莉，对惯于轻视女性的男性酒客不屑一顾，也绝不会像其他女侍一样，卑微地捡取客人丢在桌上的赏钱。她的傲气与坚强，让萨克斯风好手，也是她一辈子最亲密的朋友—李斯特杨(Lester Young)，为她冠上「Lady Day」（淑女黛小姐）的封号。比莉哈乐黛的歌声与其生平一样，是充满梦幻色彩的传奇，短暂44年的生涯，点滴都让乐迷无尽追思。 by Stephen Thomas Erlewine Forget for a moment that The Best of Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday was tied into the release of the superb box set, Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944), thereby offering a bit of advertisement to the full-fledged set. That doesn't matter -- even if there was never a box set, this would have been a welcome addition to Billie Holiday's catalog, since it's the first concise, yet comprehensive, introduction to her groundbreaking, perhaps greatest, recordings. Over the course of two discs, nearly all of her finest moments for Columbia are chronicled (along with a handful of rarities to entice the curious to the big box), providing a welcome summary for serious listeners on a budget. Prior to this release, the Columbia recordings were available either individually, as part of the Quintessential series, or on haphazard single-disc collections. This provides a logical, thorough overview of her acknowledged peak at Columbia (meaning that there's nothing from Lady in Satin) and that may be enough for serious listeners who don't have the money or inclination to delve into the full box.