The year's best box set has arrived. Lady Day is a lushly packaged 10-CD collection, designed to recall the old 78-RPM “albums” and including a coffee-table book of historical essays, photos and complete discography.

        And while that's SOP for box sets, this time, the music is well worth the effort. Billie Holiday was arguably the greatest interpreter of popular song during the golden age of popular song, and her years with Columbia-affiliated labels were her finest.

BILLIE HOLIDAY

Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944)    Sony/Legacy; 4 stars    $169.98 CD only

        Add to that the backing musicians, a true Who's Who of the Swing Era (including pianist Teddy Wilson, tenor saxophonist Lester Young and, oh yeah, Count Basie and Benny Goodman), and this would be a must-have no matter who was singing.

        But of course, this is the seminal Lady Day, sounding giggly and girlish on her debut, “Your Mother's Son in Law.” Like many of the songs she recorded, it's a fairly silly ditty, but she makes the most of it, as do her backing musicians — Mr. Goodman among them.

        When the songs were worthy, her performances were luminous, with a subtlety and nuance that had never been heard before, as well as an aching depth of emotion that has rarely been heard since.

        This set is filled with such masterpieces — “These Foolish Things,” “I Cried For You,” “No Regrets,” “Summertime,” “A Fine Romance,” “Pennies From Heaven,” “I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Baby),” “My Last Affair,” “Mean To Me,”. “Trav'lin' All Alone,” “I Can't Get Started,” “Gloomy Sunday” (a song that should carry a warning label for depressives) and her signature song, “God Bless the Child.”

        For collectors, there are dozens of alternate takes, but, unlike most historical reissues, these are saved for the final few discs, so the listener needn't sit through four versions of “Romance in the Dark,” unless he or she really wants to.

        There's only one song missing, her anti-lynching protest song, “Strange Fruit” that Columbia refused to record (she did it for the tiny indie, Commodore). But unlike many of the 230 recordings here, that one's easy to find.

        For any fan of great singing or superb jazz, Lady Day is the best box set in a very long time.

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