Search - Sarah Vaughan & Other Jazz Divas on DVD

Buy It For Sarah-Watch it for Billie....

Terry | Silver Spring, Md. | 05/06/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Two cuts stand out from this well recorded DVD. There is one of Sarah singing "Over The Rainbow" in which she plays a piano solo (I love to hear her play piano). The other, and the most outstanding on the DVD is Billie Holiday singing a blues entitled "Now, Baby or Never". Billie is about 35 years old in the 8 minute performance and I have never heard her sound better. She swings like nobody's business and is superbly accompanied by the Count Basie Big Band. Sarah start off the program with 3 selections "Hot and Cold Runnig Tears", Somewhere Over the Rainbow", and " The Nearness of You". Ella Fitgerald comes next with two duets, "Dancing on the Ceiling" with Nat Cole and Why Can't We Be Friends" with Frank Sinatra. Then Billie Holiday with "God Bless the Child" and " Now, Baby or Never". Lena Horne sings "The Man I Love" and "From This Moment On" . Dorothy Dandridge sings "You Do Something To Me" and "My Heart Belongs to Daddy". Then Sarah retuns with "S'Wonderful", Experience Unecessary", and "You're Mine You.. Most of the material is from a 'pop variety' approach, seemingly taped for mainstream television or movies, except for Billie with Count Basie and maybe two of Sarah's ( Over the Rainbow and The Nearness of You). They don't stretch any of the numbers out and Sarah's piano solo is the only instrumental solo on the disk. Still it is well filmed for the time and an excellent representation of the artists that were included."

BILLIE IS BEYOND!

NYC Music Lover | New York, NY United States | 05/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I haven't purchased this DVD yet, so I can't give you a report
on the quality or all the performances. What I can tell you,
if you're a Billie Holiday fan, is that the two performances
included here are the BEST video footage of Lady I have ever
seen. I have them on an old VHS compilation called "Swing".
Billie sings "God Bless The Child" and "Now Or Never" with
Count Basie's Orchestra. She sounds great and looks STUNNING.
This was recorded, I believe in the late 40's, and was a first-
class "Movie Quality" short. If the only video clips you've
ever seen of Billie are from the end of her career ("Fine And
Mellow" etc) you must see this, an artist at the peak of her
powers. She is just dazzling!"

Doesn't do justice to the performers

amanooensis | Flyover Country | 09/04/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It's worth noting that Sarah Vaughan's estate is cited on the label as having nothing to do with this DVD. There could be many reasons, but one is probably that they did not appreciate the use of Ms. Vaughan's name or image to sell the product, when it does so little to represent her true legacy -- and includes so much material from others.

There's no question that it's great to be able to see Billie Holiday at all, and it is a treat. But all things considered, the quality of this production is too inconsistent, and most of the songs not that memorable regardless of who sings them.

If you've ever heard the best audio recordings from these ladies, you may find yourself less satisfied after watching this than you were before you started. At least, that's pretty much how I felt. The project seems to be more a work of opportunism than anything else.

One is tempted to get something like this because of the price and the names listed, but you get what you pay for. My copy has been sitting unused after just 1 or 2 viewings, and I don't have any hankering to play it anytime soon. So I can't recommend it, except perhaps to very enthusiastic collectors who are willing to forgive the slapdash nature of the production."