Billie Holiday (with Count Basie): They Can't Take That Away From Me

Count Basie featured three singers with his band on this June 30, 1937 live broadcast from Harlem's famous Savoy Ballroom. But Billie Holiday, only 22 years old, steals the show with this heartfelt performance of Gershwin's "They Can't Take That Away From Me." During this period, Holiday would make many of her most famous recordings, often in the company of Lester Young, who is also part of this edition of the Basie band. In time, Holiday's singing would become laced with a deep-set melancholy, and the vocalist herself seemed to take some pride in her public image as a downtrodden and heartbroken woman. Yet here she sings with pride and independence, proclaiming through the lyrics of the standard all the things they can't take away from her. This is one of Holiday's finest moments, and certainly one of her most upbeat.