Stormy Weather

"Stormy Weather" is a standard 32-bar pop song, but Billie Holiday turns it into a blues. Recorded for Norman Granz's Clef label, Holiday is backed by a stellar jazz group including Harry "Sweets" Edison on trumpet and Benny Carter on alto sax. The blues thread lies entirely in Holiday's phrasing. She drags behind the beat, sliding into notes with a weary, speech-like cadence that she openly modeled on the singing of Bessie Smith. She bypasses the song's pop origins to extract pure, blues-level melancholy.