Monday, July 27, 2009

Song of the Week: "Summertime", Billie Holiday

And so Summer ends. Or maybe I should say our week long tribute to the George Gershwin song, Summertime, ends. Billie Holiday recorded her surprisingly perky version of the song for Columbia Records in 1936, as the opera for which the song was composed, Porgy and Bess, was still in first run. It is arguably Holiday's hit version of the song that propelled the number to a wider pop stardom. Her recording includes the work of Bunny Berigan on trumpet, the well known Artie Shaw on clarinet, Joe Bushkin at the piano, Dick McDonough strumming on guitar, Pete Peterson at bass and Cozy Cole behind the drums. Click here to listen to Holiday's classic version.

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