The Complete Commodore and Decca Masters

When Columbia wouldn't allow Billie Holiday to record the controversial "Strange Fruit," for fear of reprisals by Southern distributors, the songstress turned to her friend Milt Gabler, owner/producer of Commodore Records. A deal was struck with Columbia for a four song one-off session for Commodore, and a decade-plus long producer/performer relationship was launched. Milt viewed Billie Holiday as not only a great jazz singer, but also as a great pop songstress; and after she returned to Commodore in 1944 and signed with Decca later that year, the artist and the producer, who had joined Decca as an A&R man, created a series of vocal performances unrivaled since. Ms. Holiday was at the height of her vocal powers, as she rattled off one beautifully produced classic after another: "Fine And Mellow" and "Strange Fruit" for Commodore; "Lover Man," "My Man," "Good Morning Heartache," "Dont Explain," etc. for Decca. Here for the first time in one place is all fifty Milt Gabler produced Billie Holiday masters, plus two others completing her Decca contract. They've all been lovingly digitally disc transferred, sonically restored and re-mastered by the same team that produced the multi-Grammy Award winning The Complete Decca Recordings, and the Grammy winning art director of that project, Vartan, again directed this classically handsome repackaging.