And one more for your listening pleasure -
"Carelessly", recorded by Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra, March 1937; Billie Holiday on vocals. Lyrics to this song also written in
Betty's notebook.
Although a sample size of two does not not a valid statistic make
, one can jump to the conclusion that Betty liked Billie Holiday, which would mean Betty had excellent taste in music.
For anyone wanting to give Billie Holiday a try, may I recommend
"The Essential Billie Holiday: The Columbia Years" (link to U.S. Amazon store for convenience; available just about anywhere). The set lives up to its "essential" moniker - Billie's very best 78's from 1936 through the early 1940's recorded on Columbia's "Brunswick" and "Vocalion" labels. In 1936 Billie was 21 years old, and had already lived a lifetime. I agree with the critics/historians that say 1936-38 was the apex of her career. In this time period pianist Teddy Wilson would set up many BH recording sessions with key players from Count Basie Orchestra - soloists Lester Young (tenor sax), Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison (trumpets), Dickie Wells (trombone) and rhythm section - Walter Page (bass), Freddie Green (guitar) and Jo Jones (drums) (However, "Carelessly" players are from Duke Ellington Orchestra - Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Cootie Williams, etc. - of course GREAT as well). In these sessions Billie would run through a stack of sheet music; the group had no problem keeping up, sometimes recording on the first take - incredible extemporaneous playing. Every recording on here is a gem, and IMHO excellent background music while conducting AE research. Enjoy!