Holiday, Billie
Idem, 2009, DVD
Instrument: FEMALE VOCAL
Issue: 16.3
Jazz Ruler Type: Ballads, Blues
Performance: 4
Sound: 3
Score: 
O’s Notes: This is a biographical sketch of Billie Holiday, one of the most storied jazz vocalists of all time. They discuss her troubled childhood and her rise into music and film in Harlem. Footage of her performances is included throughout for context. She starred with Black and White bands encountering a great deal of racism during her stint with Artie Shaw. She got past that recording with Columbia and then Decca. Success brought with it the drugs that would eventually lead to her demise. She connected with Norm Granz on the Verve label in the 1950s as her voice changed texture. She died in 1959 from heart and liver disease at 44. She was arrested on her deathbed for narcotics possession. Her signature is unique and she lives in as one of the jazz legends.
Publicist: Music Video Distributors
