Songs for Distingué Lovers was one of the numerous albums Billie Holiday recorded in the 1950s, during her contract with jazz producer Norman Granz. The jazz impresario surrounded the singer with important instrumentalists, such as Ben Webster and Harry “Sweets” Edison, who had both worked with the singer during the 1930s and 1940s – Edison as a member of the Count Basie Orchestra during Holiday’s brief stint as the band’s female vocalist, and Webster from the recordings under her own name for Vocalion Records and Okeh Records. Granz also provided her with a repertoire including some of the best pieces from the Great American Songbook. Thecomplete LP Body and Soul (Verve V6-8197) and a wonderful reading of “I Wished on the Moon”, all taken from the same sessions, have been added as a bonus.

BILLIE HOLIDAY, vocalsBEN WEBSTER, tenor saxHARRY “SWEETS” EDISON, trumpetJIMMY ROWLES, pianoBARNEY KESSEL, guitarRED MITCHELL, bassALVIN STOLLER or LARRY BUNKER, drums

All tracks recorded in Hollywood, California, January 1957.

• 1. Day In, Day Out
• 2. A Foggy Day
• 3. Stars Fell On Alabama
• 4. One For My Baby (and One More For the Road)
• 5. Just One of Those Things
• 6. I Didn't Know What Time It Was
• 7. Body and Soul (Bonus Track)
• 8. They Can't Take That Away From Me (Bonus Track)
• 9. Darn That Dream (Bonus Track)
• 10. Let's Call the Whole Thing Off (Bonus Track)
• 11. Comes Love (Bonus Track)
• 12. Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You (Bonus Track)
• 13. Embraceable You (Bonus Track)
• 14. Moonlight In Vermont (Bonus Track)
• 15. I Wished On the Moon (Bonus Track)