A jazz legend paying tribute to another jazz legend..

Etta james finally wona Grammy for this album which is shocking cause hello she's etta james what in the world took the grammy's so long...
this is a great cd ..that has a living legend pay tribute to another departed legend of jazz Billy holiday..
her range is incredible...considering she is a true barritone...amazing...one of her best albums..

The only woman to do Lady Day some justice...

'Ya heard? I'm'a make this as short as possible. Etta James has one'a the mos' passionate an' wrenching voices in all blues n' soul music an' when she takes on THESE numbers, you hear that an' them some. As a big fan'a Billie Holiday not many singer could give much credibility to performin' the songs that she made famous. But this jus' works. Ms. James, rather than adopting the ballads with her own style, jus' adopted a DIFFERENT style than she normally does so that she can sing 'The Man I Love', 'Embraceable You', an' 'The Very Thought of You' with all the relaxed subtlety that Lady Day did. With a nice jazz backing section, she lays the loveliness on thick. Strictly fans'a her work only may not be as enthralled by this set, but if your musical tastes cover the whole spectrum from blues to soul to this ol' traditional-style jazz, then definitely check this out. This is one'a the most earnest, sincere, an' well-done tribute albums of all time. Ms. Billie would be proud.

Wonderful, Simply Wonderful

I was surprised that I would love this CD so much because I had heard of Etta James but I didn't know to much about her or her music (she was a little before my time). I have to say this CD is timeless. I love the words of the songs and the richness of her voice. Etta truly makes me wish I could have been around to hear Billie do the honors herself.