Description
“Lady in Satin” marked Billie Holiday’s last big hit and her second to last album ever. It represents something close to her swan song. Although some live recordings made after that Columbia album exist, and she even made a second LP with Ray Ellis for MGM, none of these documents were as enduring as “Lady in Satin”.
In fact, Billie herself loved this album, on which she fully impregnates the music with her soul, even though the effects of a lifetime of drug abuse and alcoholism are apparent in her voice. Most jazz fans now consider “Lady in Satin” to be Holiday’s last great effort.
Despite the later acceptance of the album (All Music Guide gives it four and a half stars out of five), the critics at the time, obviously unaware of the fact that the singer had little more than a year more to live, weren’t so generous. Whatever its merits and flaws, there is no doubt that “Lady in Satin” is one of Billie Holiday’s most poignant recordings ever, and a true jazz classic.
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