Billie Holiday - Compact Jazz: Live (1989/2019)

Yet another Billie Holiday anthology/sampler chooses to focus upon 20 of her live performances under the aegis of Norman Granz, all of which are available elsewhere in some form. Seven tracks date from the prime 1946 JATP concert in Los Angeles, the next four from Carnegie Hall 1947 with just the piano of Bobby Tucker for support ("I Cover the Waterfront" is especially nice), and only one track, "Fine and Mellow" from the 1956 Carnegie "comeback." Six live tracks from Newport 1957 with a quartet powered by Jo Jones' drums find Billie's voice worn and well on the way down, and the disc closes with a better pair of 1958 performances from Wallingford, Connecticut. As a sampler of Verve's Holiday archive, this is well down on the list of choices.