Editing Billie Holiday (section)

===1937–1938: Working for Count Basie and Artie Shaw===
In late 1937, Holiday had a brief stint as a big-band vocalist with [[Count Basie]].{{Sfn|Walker, November|2002}} The traveling conditions of the band were often poor; they performed many one-nighters in clubs, moving from city to city with little stability. Holiday chose the songs she sang and had a hand in the arrangements, choosing to portray her developing persona of a woman unlucky in love. Her tunes included "I Must Have That Man", "Travelin' All Alone", "[[I Can't Get Started]]", and "[[Summertime (George Gershwin song)|Summertime]]", a hit for Holiday in 1936, originating in [[George Gershwin]]'s ''[[Porgy and Bess]]'' the year before. Basie became used to Holiday's heavy involvement in the band. He said, "When she rehearsed with the band, it was really just a matter of getting her tunes like she wanted them, because she knew how she wanted to sound and you couldn't tell her what to do."{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=93–94}} Some of the songs Holiday performed with Basie were recorded. "I Can't Get Started", "[[They Can't Take That Away from Me]]", and "Swing It Brother Swing" are all commercially available.{{Sfn|Novaes, "Live Songs,"|1937}} Holiday was unable to record in the studio with Basie, but she included many of his musicians in her recording sessions with Teddy Wilson.

Holiday found herself in direct competition with the popular singer [[Ella Fitzgerald]]. The two later became friends.{{Sfn|Gourse,|2000|p=40}} Fitzgerald was the vocalist for the Chick Webb Band, which was in competition with the Basie band. On January 16, 1938, the same day that Benny Goodman performed [[The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert|his legendary Carnegie Hall jazz concert]], the Basie and Webb bands had a battle at the [[Savoy Ballroom]]. Webb and Fitzgerald were declared winners by ''[[Metronome (magazine)|Metronome]]'' magazine, while ''[[DownBeat]]'' magazine pronounced Holiday and Basie the winners. Fitzgerald won a straw poll of the audience by a three-to-one margin.

By February 1938, Holiday was no longer singing for Basie. Various reasons have been given for why she was fired. [[Jimmy Rushing]], Basie's male vocalist, called her unprofessional. According to [[All Music Guide]], Holiday was fired for being "temperamental and unreliable". She complained of low pay and poor working conditions and may have refused to sing the songs requested of her or change her style.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=96–97}} Holiday was hired by [[Artie Shaw]] a month after being fired from the Count Basie Band. This association placed her among the first black women to work with a white orchestra, an unusual arrangement at that time. This was also the first time a black female singer employed full-time toured the [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregated]] U.S. South with a white bandleader. When Holiday faced racism, Shaw would often stick up for his vocalist. In her autobiography, Holiday describes an incident in which she was not permitted to sit on the bandstand with other vocalists because of racist policies. Shaw said to her, "I want you on the band stand like [[Helen Forrest]], [[Tony Pastor (bandleader)|Tony Pastor]] and everyone else."{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|p=80}} When touring the South, Holiday would sometimes be heckled by members of the audience. In [[Louisville, Kentucky]], a man called her a "nigger wench" and requested she sing another song. Holiday lost her temper and had to be escorted off the stage.{{Sfn|Gourse,|2000|pp=103–104}}

By March 1938, Shaw and Holiday had been broadcast on New York City's powerful radio station WABC (the original WABC, now [[WCBS (AM)|WCBS]]). Because of their success, they were given an extra time slot to broadcast in April, which increased their exposure. The ''[[New York Amsterdam News]]'' reviewed the broadcasts and reported an improvement in Holiday's performance. ''Metronome'' reported that the addition of Holiday to Shaw's band put it in the "top brackets". Holiday could not sing as often during Shaw's shows as she could in Basie's; the repertoire was more instrumental, with fewer vocals. Shaw was also pressured to hire a white singer, Nita Bradley, with whom Holiday did not get along but had to share a bandstand. In May 1938, Shaw won band battles against [[Tommy Dorsey]] and [[Red Norvo]], with the audience favoring Holiday. Although Shaw admired Holiday's singing in his band, saying she had a "remarkable ear" and a "remarkable sense of time", her tenure with the band was nearing an end.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=100–107}} In November 1938, Holiday was asked to use the service elevator at the [[Hotel Lincoln (New York City)|Lincoln Hotel]] in New York City, instead of the one used by hotel guests, because white patrons of the hotels complained. This may have been the last straw for her. She left the band shortly after. Holiday spoke about the incident weeks later, saying, "I was never allowed to visit the bar or the dining room as did other members of the band ... [and] I was made to leave and enter through the kitchen." There are no surviving live recordings of Holiday with Shaw's band. Because she was under contract to a different record label and possibly because of her race, Holiday was able to make only one record with Shaw, "Any Old Time". However, Shaw played clarinet on four songs she recorded in New York on July 10, 1936: "Did I Remember?", "No Regrets", "Summertime" and "[[Billie's Blues]]".

By the late 1930s, Holiday had toured with Count Basie and Artie Shaw, scored a string of radio and retail hits with Teddy Wilson, and became an established artist in the recording industry. Her songs "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and "[[Easy Living (song)|Easy Living]]" were imitated by singers across America and were quickly becoming [[jazz standard]]s.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=70}} In September 1938, Holiday's single "[[I'm Gonna Lock My Heart (And Throw Away the Key)|I'm Gonna Lock My Heart]]" ranked sixth as the most-played song that month. Her record label, [[Vocalion]], listed the single as its fourth-best seller for the same month, and it peaked at number 2 on the pop charts, according to Joel Whitburn's ''Pop Memories: 1890–1954''.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=102}}