Heartfelt throughout..Sad,georgeous arrangements and tunes for Billie's last. The feeling of despair and the bad weather before the storm is felt on this her last offering.
This CD now gets the treatment it deserves with it's lavish packaging and even though her voice is near shot it stands
out as an emotional vehicle for her intonations and phrasing and use of time..her gift and claim to fame.
A fitting purchase and a very eerie one.

Many people complains that the fanatics of this album just could not hear her as she is because there are so many emotional baggaeges attached to this album. However, I am sure I was impartial when I heard this album for the first time. I was born and raised in Korea and I have never heard of her or her name when I bought the LP in late Eighties in Korea. I just started to listen to fusion jazz(I mean that was the only available jazz around) and I am afraid I did not know who Duke Ellington was. I usually listened to Pop and Classical music. And boy! this album really blew me away and she instantly became my favorites along with Billy Joel and Wham. Later on, I listened to her earlier records, but I still think this is her best record. Please listen to this album not thinking of her glorious earlier Columbia and Verve period. I think people complaining about her vocal quality are the ones who are prejudiced about this album. They are so enarmored with her earlier beautiful voice that they just refuse to hear it as it is.

This is literally the sound of Billie Holiday's heart breaking. She more than any other singer has always had the ability to reduce me to tears with her voice, but when listening to this set its pretty much a guarantee that my eyes will tear a little. Her voice shows the wear and tear from years of drug and alcohol abuse, but she still manages to get to the essence of each song and uses the limitations of her voice to her advantage. In fact, the weariness in her voice helps to express the sentiments of lost love more effectively than if her voice had been in top form. I remember reading in the liner notes written by the producer that he had thought the recording was terrible after his first listen and he wasn't happy with Billie's performance. However, in time he was able to appreciate it. This may not be an easy listen, but this was Billie Holiday's favorite recording of herself for a reason.