Blue Skies: Berlin Songbook is a random sampling of some of Irving Berlin's finest songs, sung by some of the greatest vocalists -- including
Billie Holiday,
Ella Fitzgerald,
Dinah Washington, and
Sarah Vaughan. Of course, all of the performances are culled from Polygram/Verve's vaults, so there isn't much stylistic variety on the album, nor is the selection a representative portrait of either jazz or popular singing or Berlin's songbook. Instead, it's just a thoroughly enjoyable collection -- it may not be eductional or a definitive compilation, but it does give a good sense of what treasures there are to behold within Berlin's catalog.
