Stay with Me (MGV 8302) is the ninth studio album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, accompanied by Tony Scott and his Orchestra. It contains all the material from a session recorded on February 14, 1955, in New York City,Session details on billieholiday.be and released in 1958 on producer Norman Granz's Verve label.Album release details on billieholiday.be
For the CD reissue in 1991 another session was appended, that Granz had previously issued as part of the self-titled Billie Holiday LP on his Clef record label (10-inch LP, Clef EPC 224/Verve MGC 690).Album details for Billie Holiday on billieholiday.be The recording from April 14, 1954, at the same studio with "Billie Holliday and Her Band", consisted of the Oscar Peterson Trio, Ed Shaughnessy on drums, and trumpeter Charlie Shavers as the only members of both sessions beside Holiday.Session details on billieholiday.be Beyond that, all tracks were part of many compilations and the complete recording issues of Billie Holiday.Details for the CD release on billieholiday.be. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
Reception
In a review for AllMusic, Ron Wynn stated that Holiday "was fading, but hadn't lost the dramatic quality in her delivery, nor her ability to project and tell a shattering story."
Jack Kenny, writing for Jazz Views, noted that the "readings that [Holiday] gives to popular tunes of her day can reveal depths that probably the writers of the lyrics never envisaged. There are numerous examples on this CD. The one that stands out is 'Love For Sale'... She sings it as though for the first time; you hear it as if for the first time. It was fortunate that Norman Granz managed to put her under contract in what proved to be her final years."
Track listing Side one "I Wished on the Moon" (Ralph Rainger, Dorothy Parker) – 6:48 "Ain't Misbehavin'" (Fats Waller, Harry Brooks, Andy Razaf) – 4:38 "Everything Happens to Me" (Tom Adair, Matt Dennis) – 6:20
Side two "Say It Isn't So" (Irving Berlin) – 3:01 "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" (Irving Berlin) – 3:55 "Always" (Irving Berlin) – 3:57 "Do Nothing till You Hear from Me" (Duke Ellington, Bob Russell) – 5:00
Appended session on CD release in 1991, previously released on Billie Holiday (probably 1954) "How Deep Is the Ocean" (Irving Berlin) – 3:01 "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" (Harry Woods) – 3:12 "I Cried for You" (Gus Arnheim, Arthur Freed, Abe Lyman) – 2:29
Personnel Original session of February 14, 1955 Billie Holiday with Tony Scott and his Orchestra Billie Holiday – Vocals Charlie Shavers – Trumpet Budd Johnson – Tenor sax Tony Scott – Clarinet Carl Drinkard / Billy Taylor – Piano Billy Bauer – Guitar Leonard Gaskin – Bass Cozy Cole – Drums Leroy Lovett – Arranger
Session of April 14, 1954, added on CD release 1991 Billie Holiday and Her Band Billie Holiday – Vocals Charlie Shavers – Trumpet Oscar Peterson – Piano Herb Ellis – Guitar Ray Brown – Bass Ed Shaughnessy – Drums
References