Audio
Charles A. Robertson : December 1957

This is such a good idea that the wonder is why it was never done before. It most certainly will be repeated among the sheaf of releases to accompany the completion of the autobiographical film on Billie Holiday. A choice sextet of instrumentalists express their admiration for the singer on five numbers she has made pretty much her own, and pay reflective tribute in The Lady, a dedicatory piece by cornetist Webster Young. A disciple of Miles Davis and new arrival on the scene, he exhibits at twenty-five a good command of his instrument in a tantalizing likeness of the Holiday vocal style.

Arrangements by Mal Waldron, her present pianist, deliver the message of Gold Bless the Child and the soul-tearing story of Strange Fruit. Paul Quinichette, tenor sax, relenting in his determination not to resemble Lester Young too closely, matches the style which accompanied her so often, before having his own say. The musicians also know and love Good Morning Heartache and Don’t Explain, and give long-awaited instrumental expression to them in this excellent recording. Earl May, bass, and Ed Thigpen, drums, are from the Billy Taylor Trio. There is a tendency nowadays to emphasize the sad and somber theme of the Holiday career. Guitarist Joe Puma helps recall her lighter and swinging side on Moanin’ Love. If it prompts someone to engage Buck Clayton for a similar treatment of her earlier tunes, this album, already doubly welcome for Webster Young, will more than pay its dues.

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Billboard : 10/07/1957
Special Merit Jazz Album

Consisting of songs Billie Holiday made famous plus one original, this set finds distinction in its capture of much of the soul and sadness that is “Lady.” Taking the cue from basic qualities of thematic material, soloists spread out and spell out cogent emotional stories within head-arrangement framework. Quinichette and the very promising newcomer, Webster Young, are exemplar in this context.

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Cashbox : 12/14/1957

The musicians are heard in an instrumental dedication to “The Lady”, Billie Holiday. With Young blowing a French coronet, and Quinichette blowing the tenor sax, the sextet offers six tunes closely associated with Miss Holiday, including God Bless The Child, Good Morning Heartache, Strange Fruit, and The Lady, an original by Young. Stellar improvisations by the expert jazzists.

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Saturday Review
Nat Hentoff : 11/30/1957

Even more intriguing an addition to recent recorded tribute literature is For Lady. Lady Day is the sobriquet of Billie Holiday among some musicians, and this album collects four songs fiercely identified with her (Strange Fruit and God Bless the Child among them); one she recorded with Teddy Wilson in 1937; and an original, The Lady, by the leader of the date, 25-year-old trumpet Webster Young. The salute is entirely instrumental, and the two horns present are rather intriguingly matched. Young is a brooding, modern lyrical player much influenced by Miles Davis. Tenor Paul Quinichette, a Count Basie alumnus, is of the swing era but with a message that is also primarily lyrical. Quinichette, who had been in limbo for a time, has regained and in fact, added to his former warmth and fulness of tone; and while he remains inescapably reminiscent of Lester Young, he can on occasion be quite personally satisfying. There is an admirably afloat rhythm section of Ed Thigpen, drums; Earl May, bass; Joe Puma, guitar; and Billie Holiday’s regular accompanist, Mal Waldron, a pianist-composer of unusually disciplined and moving sensitivity.

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Down Beat : 01/09/1958
Don Gold : 4 stars

For Lady is a tribute to Billie Holiday by six musicians who dig her deeply. In assembling this LP, they have included five of her finest interpretative vehicles and a hymn to her by cornetist Webster Young.

The results are intense and poignantly moving. As Ira Gitler points out in the liner notes, “That they dwell on sadness is because Billie is essentially a singer of sad songs.”

Young, the 25-year-old cornetist from Washington, DC, is an economical, lyrical hornman, in the Miles Davis tradition (he plays Miles’ French cornet here). Faced with no need to race in this moderately paced set, he plays with emotional force.

Quincihette has been heard too rarely these days, as less able tenor men are overrecorded. He plays effectively here, assisting in sustaining the nostalgic mood. Waldron, who, like Quinichette, has worked with Billie, plays sympathetically throughout. Puma‘s presence is felt, too, and two-thirds of the Billy Taylor trio makes an inobtrusively effective rhythm team.

Young’s Lady is mournful, but contains the strength that is Billie, too. Child is a strikingly direct Waldron arrangement, with excellent solos by Young and Quinichette. Explain becomes a penetrating emotional study through the solo efforts of the two horn men. Fruit is a dignified pronouncement of a significant social theme, with the rhythm section pulsating in ominous fashion as the horns retell Lady’s story.

These men have heard Billie, have known her, and understand her. They speak as she has spoken, with a kind of touching sadness that can illuminate the dark corners of life. It is to their credit that they sustain this mood without descending to banality of monotony.

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Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

Like the very fans who idolize them, musicians, too, have their special favorites. These usually lie in the area of the musicians own instrument but in many other instances, there are other instrumentalists or even vocalists who particularly move him.

Webster Young, a young trumpeter with a strong affinity for Miles Davis (incidentally, he is playing Miles’ French cornet here) has also been one of Billie Holiday‘s greatest admirers for all his listening years. Unlike the ordinary fan, Webster is able to do more than pay verbal tribute to Lady Day, he can put his admiration into musical expression. Webster has learned from Miles the value of playing a note and having it relate to several chords at the same time. This pensive style is emotion-packed, lyrical and heightens the feeling inherent in the tunes themselves.

For Lady, Webster has chosen to play five tunes which have been almost exclusively the property of Billie Holiday and, in addition, has written a descriptive, dedicatory piece entitled, simply, The Lady.

Of the five Holiday properties, two, Don’t Explain and God Bless The Child are the result of collaborations between Billie and Arthur Herzog while Strange Fruit is her interpretation of the poem by Louis Allan. Good Morning Heartache was written by Dan Fisher, Ervin Drake and Irene Higginbotham. Ralph Rainger penned Moanin’ Low.

There were many tunes associated with Billie Holiday that might have been chosen but Webster, in making his selections, has taken the greatest of a great repertoire. That they dwell on sadness is because Billie is essentially a singer of sad songs.

In choosing the musicians he has done well too with an assist from Bob Weinstock in the suggestion of Paul Quinichette, who as a Younger tenor fits any tribute to Lady quite perfectly. Joe Puma plays very sensitive guitar throughout and Mal Waldron, who for the past half year has been Miss Holiday’s accompanist, not only exhibits his deeply probing brand of piano but has also written two meaningful arrangements on Strange Fruit and God Bless The Child.

The bass and drums team is literally that for Earl May and Ed Thigpen are the wheels that move the Billy Taylor trio on its merry way. Their role here is a supporting one and done with professional skill and awareness.

The set opens with The Lady, a piece fraught with the sadness that has cloaked Billie’s life. His exquisite harmonic structure leads all four soloists into extremely melodic recitations.

Mal Waldron’s warm arrangement of God Bless The Child has Webster and Joe Puma dividing the melody chorus. Joe handles the bridge. Everyone but Watkins solos with Webster’s statement especially moving. Billie first recorded this tune in 1941.

Moanin’ Low comes originally from a date with Teddy Wilson in 1937 and, as such, really has an old Swing feeling to it. Webster and Paul get a warm interplay going in the theme statements.

Good Morning Hearthache, which opens side two, was done in 1945 by Lady. Here Webster handles it at a medium tempo with a muted horn Quinichette has the first solo and then Young, Puma and Waldron have their say.

Webster really cries Don’t Explain as Paul sobs obligatos and fills. A touching quote of Billy Strayhorn‘s Johnny Come Lately opens Webster’s equally poignant solo. Particularly noteworthy is Waldron’s accompaniment there and through Quinichette’s stint. This was first done by Billie in 1945.

To close the album, there is a stark and tearing version of what when it first came out (Billie recorded it in 1939) was more than a bit controversial because of the unpleasant and embarrassing (to certain people) truths it told. This is Strange Fruit, its mood heightened by the executioner’s drums in the introduction, interludes and ending of Mal Waldron’s powerful arrangement.

I believe you’ll find this set a change of pace in mood and feeling from the average modern jazz album of today. Material is a strong determinant in the outcome of any jazz performance; the results here are not only a double-edged tribute to Lady but a singular one to the musicians who so honor her.

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Biographies

Webster Young, born in Columbia, SC, in 1932. Moved to Washington DC at early age and was raised there. Played in an Army band with Hamp Hawes, later in Washington in civilian life with Rick Henderson, Lloyd Price and Buck Hill. Arrived in New York in 1956. Digs Miles Davis. Can be heard on Tuba Sounds with Ray Draper (Prestige LP 7096).

Paul Quinichette born in Denver, CO, in 1921. Studied at Denver U. and Tennessee State College. Worked with Shorty Sherock, Jay McShann, Louis Jordan, Lucky Millinder and Hot Lips Page in the forties. Joined Count Basie in 1951 and established himself as “Vice-Pres” in his stay with the band that lasted for two years. Won Down Beat Critics Poll New Star award in 1953. Can be heard in On The Sunny Side (Prestige LP 7103).

Joe Puma born in New York in 1927. From a guitar playing family. Self taught. Has played with Joe Roland, Louis Bellson, Don Elliot, Artie Shaw’s Gramercy Five and as accompanist to Peggy Lee. Favorites are Jimmy Raney, Tal Farlow. Can be heard in Flute Soufflé (Prestige LP 7101).

Mal Waldron born in New York in 1926. Started on alto but switched to piano. Holds B.A. from Queens College. Studied composition with Karol Rathaus. Worked with Ike Quebec, Big Nick Nicholas when breaking in. In the mid fifties, played extensively with Charlie Mingus. Later joined the Jazz Lab group and since early in 1957 has been associated with Billie Holiday. Can be heard on numerous Prestige recordings including Mal-1 (Prestige LP 7090).

Earl May born in New York in 1927. Mainly self taught. First important job with Miles Davis. Then in 1951 joined Billy Taylor and has been with him since. One of the few left handed bassists. Can be heard in Billy Taylor Trio At Town Hall (Prestige LP 7093).

Ed Thigpen born in Chicago in 1930. His father, Ben, was star drummer with Andy Kirk for 17 years. Has played with Cootie Williams, Dinah Washington, Gil Mellé, Bud Powell, Jutta Hipp. Became a permanent part of Billy Taylor trio in 1956. Can also be heard in On The Sunny Side with Paul Quinichette (Prestige LP 7103).