Stolen Moments: The Lady Sings... Jazz and Blues
Encyclopedia
"Stolen Moments: The Lady Sings... Jazz and Blues" is a 1993
live album by Diana Ross
released on the Motown label.
The album was recorded at the Ritz Theatre
in New York City on December 4, 1992. The nineteen Jazz standards, which are highly associated with Billie Holiday
, had been sung by the Motown diva twenty years before for the soundtrack of her award-winning film Lady Sings the Blues. The band backing Diana includes Jazz giants Roy Hargrove
, Ron Carter
, Jon Faddis
, and Urbie Greene, amongst others. Upon release, the album reached the Top 10 on Billboard
s Jazz
chart.
A 90 minute video recording of the show was released, initially as a Pay-Per-View
event in the United States
, and then in the various video formats available at the time. The video recording featured a performance by Rhonda Ross and behind-the-scenes footage with Diana.
A studio recording of "Where Did We Go Wrong" was included on international editions of the album, but these international releases omitted the live track "The Man I Love".
1993 in music
This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993.-January–February:*January 8 – The U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. The design was voted on in February 1992....
live album by Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
released on the Motown label.
The album was recorded at the Ritz Theatre
Walter Kerr Theatre
The Walter Kerr Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre. Located at 219 West 48th Street, it is owned and operated by Jujamcyn Theaters. One of the smaller auditoriums in the theatre district, it seats 975....
in New York City on December 4, 1992. The nineteen Jazz standards, which are highly associated with Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, had been sung by the Motown diva twenty years before for the soundtrack of her award-winning film Lady Sings the Blues. The band backing Diana includes Jazz giants Roy Hargrove
Roy Hargrove
Roy Anthony Hargrove is an American jazz trumpeter. He won worldwide notice after winning two Grammy Awards for differing types of music, in 1997, and in 2002...
, Ron Carter
Ron Carter
Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
, Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis is an American jazz trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator renowned for both his highly virtuosic command of the instrument and for his expertise in the field of music education...
, and Urbie Greene, amongst others. Upon release, the album reached the Top 10 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
chart.
A 90 minute video recording of the show was released, initially as a Pay-Per-View
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
event in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and then in the various video formats available at the time. The video recording featured a performance by Rhonda Ross and behind-the-scenes footage with Diana.
A studio recording of "Where Did We Go Wrong" was included on international editions of the album, but these international releases omitted the live track "The Man I Love".
Track listing
- "Fine and MellowFine and Mellow (song)"Fine and Mellow" is a jazz standard written by Billie Holiday, who first recorded it on April 20, 1939 on the Commodore label. It is a blues lamenting the bad treatment of a woman at the hands of "my man".- Notable performances and recordings :...
" (Billie HolidayBillie HolidayBillie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
) - 2:58 - "Them There Eyes" (Pinkard, Tauber, Tracey) - 3:42
- "Don't Explain" (Arthur Herzog Jr.Arthur Herzog Jr.Arthur Herzog, Jr. was a songwriter most known for work with Billie Holiday. He co-wrote several jazz songs she popularized, including "Don't Explain" and "God Bless the Child".-External links:*[ All Music page]...
, Holiday) - 4:48 - "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" (Woods) - 3:46
- "Mean to MeMean to Me (Fred E. Ahlert song)"Mean To Me" is a popular song with music by Fred E. Ahlert and lyrics by Roy Turk, published in 1929. The song is a popular standard, recorded by many artists.Doris Day recorded a version for the 1955 film Love Me or Leave Me....
" (Fred E. AhlertFred E. AhlertFrederick Emil Ahlert was an American composer and songwriter. He received a degree from Fordham Law School, but instead of pursuing a legal career he began work as an arranger, initially for Irving Aaronson and his Commanders and then for composer and band-leader Fred Waring...
, Roy TurkRoy TurkRoy Kenneth Turk was an American songwriter. A lyricist, he frequently collaborated with composer Fred E. Ahlert – their popular 1928 song "Mean to Me" has become a jazz standard. He worked with many other composers, including for film lyrics...
) - 2:41 - "Lover Man" (Davis, Ramirez, Sherman) - 5:01
- "Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)" (Coot GrantCoot GrantCoot Grant was an American classic female blues, country blues, and vaudeville, singer and songwriter. Her own stage craft, plus the double act with her husband and musical partner, Wesley "Kid" Wilson, was popular with African American audiences in the 1910s, 1920s and early 1930s.-Biography:One...
/ Wesley WilsonWesley WilsonWesley Wilson was an American blues and jazz singer and songwriter. His own stage craft, plus the double act with his wife and musical partner, Coot Grant, was popular with African American audiences in the 1910s, 1920s and early 1930s.His stage names included Kid Wilson, Jenkins, Socks, and...
) - 3:31 - "Little Girl BlueLittle Girl Blue (song)"Little Girl Blue" is a popular song with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, published in 1935. The song was introduced by Gloria Grafton in the Broadway musical Jumbo....
" (Lorenz HartLorenz HartLorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
, Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
) - 3:21 - "There's a Small Hotel" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) - 2:47
- "I Cried for YouI Cried for You"I Cried for You" is a song by Georgian born songstress Katie Melua, and was the second single from her second album, Piece by Piece. The single is a double A-side consisting of "I Cried for You", which is one of Melua's own compositions, and a cover of The Cure's song "Just like Heaven", the...
" (Gus ArnheimGus ArnheimGus Arnheim was an early popular band leader. He is noted for writing several songs with his first hit being "I Cried for You" from 1923. He was most popular in the 1920s and 1930s...
, Arthur FreedArthur FreedArthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was a Jewish American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.- Biography :Freed began his career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago...
, Abe LymanAbe LymanAbe Lyman was a popular bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including Your Hit Parade....
) - 6:38 - "The Man I Love" (George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Ira GershwinIra GershwinIra Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
) - 5:13 - "God Bless the ChildGod Bless the Child (Billie Holiday song)"God Bless the Child" is a song written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. in 1939, first recorded on May 9, 1941 under the Okeh label.Holiday's version of the song was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in...
" (Herzog, Holiday) - 6:13 - "Love Is Here to Stay" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) - 2:18
- "You've Changed" (Carey, Fischer) - 2:59
- "Strange FruitStrange Fruit"Strange Fruit" is a song performed most famously by Billie Holiday, who released her first recording of it in 1939, the year she first sang it. Written by the teacher Abel Meeropol as a poem, it exposed American racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans. Such lynchings had occurred...
" (Allan) - 3:31 - "Good Morning HeartacheGood Morning Heartache"Good Morning Heartache" is a song written by Irene Higgenbotham, Ervin Drake, and Dan Fisher. Originally recorded by jazz singer Billie Holiday on January 22, 1946.-About the songwriters:...
" (Ervin DrakeErvin DrakeErvin Drake, born Ervin Maurice Druckman is an American songwriter whose works include such American Songbook standards as "It Was a Very Good Year". He has written in a variety of styles and his work has been recorded by musicians from all over the world in a multitude of styles...
, Dan Fisher, Irene HiggenbothamIrene HiggenbothamIrene Higginbotham was an American songwriter and concert pianist...
) - 5:02 - "Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do" (Grainger, Robbins) - 2:44
- "My Man" (Charles, Pollack, Willemetz, Yvain) - 3:54
- "Fine and Mellow (Reprise)" (Holiday) - 2:06
External links
- Stolen Moments at Motown link