Personnel includes: Diana Ross (vocals); Gil Asky (arranger, trumpet); Ted Dunbar (guitar); Justin Robinson, Frank Wess (alto saxophone); Ralph Moore, Jerome Richardson (tenor saxophone); Gary Smulyan (baritone saxophone); Jon Faddis, Stanton Davis, John Longo, Roy Hargrove (trumpet); Urbie Greene, Garnett Brown, Slide Hampton (trombone); Barry Harris, Bobby Tucker (piano); Ron Carter (bass); Grady Tate (drums).
Recorded live at the Ritz Theatre, New York, New York on December 4, 1992.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
When Diana Ross portrayed Billie Holliday in the 1971 bio-pic LADY SINGS THE BLUES, she took a lot of heat from jazz purists who felt that her vocals lacked the essential Holliday spirit. Twenty-one years later, she turned the tables on them with a triumphant one night only concert of Holliday songs and standards, recorded for both CD and video.
Here Ross is backed, variously, by a small combo and a big band, both featuring a veritable Who's Who of jazz musicians. Her singing is perfection; you could be excused for thinking she was actually channeling Lady Day.
