Usually “All-Star team” is a sports category. Musicians group according to their affinities, style and personal friendship. But this recording is an example of both - the impeccable mastership of everyone involved in this session and their personal love and respect for each other. This version of “Fine and Mellow” was recorded for the TV show “The Sound of Jazz” and is probably the only recording with so many legendary musicians in one place. CBS producer Robert Herridge managed to assemble the Dream Team of early jazz: Ben Webster – tenor saxophone, Lester Young – tenor saxophone, Vic Dickenson – trombone, Gerry Mulligan – baritone saxophone, Coleman Hawkins – tenor saxophone, Roy Eldridge – trumpet, Doc Cheatham – trumpet, Danny Barker – guitar, Milt Hinton – double bass, Mal Waldron – piano, Osie Johnson - drums and Billie Holiday on vocals. The one-hour program aired on Sunday, December 8, 1957, at 5 p.m. Eastern Time, live from CBS Studio 58 in New York City. This performance reunited, for one last time, Billie Holiday and her estranged long-time friend and music collaborator Lester Young. They stare at each other during the whole performance, smiling and enjoying the fantastic interplay between them and the rest of the band. The performance proved Billie Holiday to still be one of the best singers this world had seen so far and showcased (for the last time) her abilities to sing the blues, expressing both joy and suffering at the same time, something that is rarely seen even among the best. The solos by each of the musicians are so emotional and creative and combined with Billie’s voice make this performance a true musical treat for all jazz lovers and music enthusiasts.
“Fine and Mellow” is a song lamenting about the bad treatment of a woman at the hands of "my man". It was written by Holiday herself and although blues was always an integral and essential part of her musical expression, this is the only straight-forward 12-bar blues that she wrote. She did that in 1939 for the Commodore label, but this version gave the song an eternal life and a secured place in the history of jazz.
