Rent Billie Holiday: The Life and Artistry of Lady Day (2002)
2.6 of 5 from 3 ratings
1h 0min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
The troubled existence of a legendary artist tormented by drug-addiction and racial prejudice viewed through her best songs images and films. Arguably the best female vocalist in jazz history, a legendary performer of international reputation, Billie Holiday (1915-1959) was known by the emotional intensity she put into the lyrics of her songs. In spite of her somewhat limited voice, her renditions were always memorable and often uncanny, for Lady Day (as she was universally known by fans and musicians alike) lived the words she sang. A one-in-a-million artist surrounded by a disturbing legend, Billie Holiday began singing in Harlem clubs and learned the ropes with the likes of Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson after her unique singing voice was discovered by talent-scout John Hammond in 1933. Early recognition followed after she waxed her first classic recordings alongside jazz masters such as Count Basie, Lester Young or Buck Clayton in the late Thirties. In spite of her many personal problems, during the Forties she recorded many of the songs that helped her establish a worldwide reputation as an incomparable vocalist: Lover Man, Strange Fruit, Don't Explain, God Bless the Child, Crazy He Calls Me, Them There Eyes ... In spite of her increasingly troubled existence, Lady Day's reputation kept growing during the final decade of her life, when she cut some of her most famous albums for the Verve label alongside jazz greats such as Harry 'Sweets' Edison, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins or Jimmy Rowles. After her untimely death in 1959, Billie Holiday remains one of the true legends in jazz. - Actors:
- Billie Holiday
- Studio:
- Idem Home Video
- Genres:
- Documentary, Music & Musicals
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Reviews (1) of Billie Holiday: The Life and Artistry of Lady Day
An hour of nothingness - Billie Holiday: The Life and Artistry of Lady Day review by SL
Sadly this film will not do much to add your knowledge of the life of Billie Holiday. There was some interesting old footage but on the whole I would give it a miss. I have long been a fan of her singing and was looking forward to learning more about the lady, but this is not the documentary for this.
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