Excellent Good Fair Poor : COMPACT DISCS

“Billie Holiday: Verve Silver Collection.” Verve. CD sound gives us Holiday as we’ve never heard her before, illuminating the nuances of her melancholy vocals. “Body and Soul,” “Embraceable You” and “Moonlight in Vermont” highlight this 14-song collection recorded with a small all-star group in 1956-57, a couple of years before she died. The popular contention that her skills had eroded by the ‘50s is nonsense. Relying on phrasing subtleties, her singing was even more touching. 1/2