This is one of the most famous jazz performances ever recorded for television. When it aired live on Dec. 8,1957, Billie Holiday and Lester Young were both in terrible health and far past their artistic best. Formerly close, they were now estranged, but the jazz critic Nat Hentoff had persuaded them to share the stage one last time.
Holiday’s singing and Young’s playing infuse Fine and Mellow with a sadness and an understanding that is hard to watch and harder to forget. Afterwards, as Hentoff noted, “they each went their separate ways.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtgUbJN8oPE
