TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : Excellent Good Fair Poor : COMPACT DISCS

“Billie Holiday: From the Original Decca Masters.” MCA (AAD). So many post-peak, 1950s Holidays have been reissued on CDs that this set is a needed reminder of her golden days (1944-49). The string settings on “Lover Man” and “Crazy He Calls Me” are discreet, though the brassy big band charts on other numbers seem pretentious and expendable. Moreover, contrary to the skimpy data on the leaflet, Lester Young is not a featured soloist on the first two cuts; nor is Buck Clayton on another, nor is Horace Henderson on a fourth. Still, it’s vintage Holiday transferred to digital. 1/2