Artist	Song
Louis Armstrong	West End Blues
from The Best of the Hot 5 & Hot 7 Recordings (2002)
Bessie Smith	Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
from The Essential Bessie Smith (1997)
Mamie Smith	Mean Man
from Crazy Blues: The Best of Mamie Smith (2004)
Ethel Waters	Travelin' All Alone
from Moments (2010)
Fats Waller & His Rhythm	Honeysuckle Rose
from If You Got to Ask, You Ain't Got It! (2006)
Duke Ellington	Sophisticated Lady
from The Duke: The Columbia Years (1927-1962) (2004)
Benny Goodman	That's a Plenty
from The Young Benny Goodman, 1928-1931 (2008)
Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra	Sugar Foot Stomp (1931 Version)
from Fletcher Henderson and the Birth of Big Band Swing (2008)
Louis Armstrong	Them There Eyes
from You're Driving Me Crazy (1930-1931), Vol. 7 (1993)
Charlie Johnson's Original Paradise Ten	You Ain't the One
from Harlem Big Bands (2008)
Various Artists - Document Records	Texas Twist
from Female Blues Singers Vol. 9 H (1923-1930) (2005)
Ma Rainey	Night Time Blues
from The Greatest Blues Licks Ever Made (2008)
Johnny Hamp's Kentucky Serenaders	Black Bottom
from Roaring '20s Jazz (2009)
Butterbeans & Susie	I Wanna Hot Dog for My Roll
from Butterbeans & Susie Vol. 2 (1926-1927) (2005)
McKinney's Cotton Pickers	Gee, Ain't I Good to You
from The Essential Sides Remastered 1929-1933 (2006)

Comment:

We often think of Billie Holiday as an almost mythic figure who inspired countless artists, but she didn't just appear out of the ether; fact is, she was inspired by some of the greatest jazz and blues artists who ever lived. It's almost impossible not to connect the dots between Louis Armstrong's laid-back scat in his Hot Five's "West End Blues" and Billie's later vocal stylings, since their feel and phrasing are so much alike. Armstrong's occasional bandmate Fletcher Henderson clearly left an impression on Billie, as her father Clarence plays banjo on Henderson's recording of "Sugar Foot Stomp (1931 Version)." And in an all-too-common tale of Depression-era woe, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," Bessie Smith grinds out three minutes of tear-jerking tragedy that absolutely defines the blues. With musical mentors ranging from Fats Waller to Duke Ellington, Ms. Holiday not only grew to be the best at her craft, but she also studied those who were the best at theirs.

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