What comes to your mind when you hear the word Jazz? Probably Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, and Frank Sinatra. But do you know about the female Jazz maestro, Billie Holiday?
The late Jazz legend was one of the greatest jazz musicians to ever walk on this earth. Everyone in the music industry respected her talents. Even modern-day artists like U2 and Dee Dee Bridgewater paid tribute to Billie Holiday’s unspoken legacy.
Holiday gained immense fame and money in a male-dominated field. But her life was not as sweet as her voice, and the new documentary movie ‘Billie’ shares some heartbreaking insights into her life, which was never made public in the past 61 years.
Billie was born in Born 1915, Philadelphia. She belonged to a poverty-stricken part of the town and had to work to feed her family. Before her rise to fame, she used to work in a brothel, scrubbing kitchens, bathroom floors, and marble steps.
To pursue her life as a dancer, Billie moved to New York, but she worked as a local club singer in Harlem.
In Harlem, she was spotted by impresario John Hammond, who introduced her to Count Basie, the lead singer of the most prominent jazz band of that time, Barons of Rhythm.
After the initial push from Count Basie and a few other musicians, Billie started working on her music journey and produced many records and albums that clocked at number 1 on every platform.
The documentary is based on the lost audio tapes and video interviews from journalist Linda Kuehl, who recorded several sessions with Billie’s associates, family, friends, and people who closely knew Billie. In the 70s, Kuehl recorded some quality source material for the film, but due to her early demise in 1978, the tapes were left unused, and nobody found out the real truth behind Kuehl’s untimely death, which was concluded as suicide.
In the documentary, Billie Holiday was subjected to assaults from her husband and her lovers. She was also caught up in cases, due to which she served jail time and stopped singing for a while.
The first half of the documentary highlighted Billie’s singing career, which was at the peak at that time, thanks to her melodious voice. She recorded several songs and records that earned her the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which is regarded as the highest honor in music.
The second half shifted the focus from singing to Billie Holiday’s personal life, which was destroyed by substance abuse, alcohol addiction, and drug enforcement officers’ involvement.
She wanted to provide a shelter home for the disadvantaged kids, but her constant addiction and the torture from people, police, relationships, and industry, drove her to madness, and she was declared dead at the NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan, New York. She died at the age of 44 due to pulmonary edema and heart failure.
The documentary also sheds light on the 1939’s controversial song, Strange Fruit, where Billie Holiday confronted the lynching of African-Americans’ and compared the victims to the fruits of a tree. In the Southern United States, the song was used as a device for the declaration of war, and she was actively involved in the civil rights movement. Her song became the anthem of the protest and the anti-protestant Harry Anslinger, who was known for his hate towards black people, framed Billie Holiday in a possession case, and she spent the next one year behind bars.
The documentary captured the hidden sides to Billie Holiday’s life, which was fast, bold, and depressing at the same time. No wonder Billie Holiday is regarded as the greatest blues singer because she alone fought her way out and earned her respect against all the great odds.
The original footage was monochrome, but the documentary is colorized to support modern streaming platforms. James Erskine will be directing the movie, and just like any other documentary, ‘Billie’ will follow a narrative similar to James’s other works like Sachin – A Billion Dreams (2017) and Building Jerusalem (2015).
Eva winget is a Microsoft Office expert and has been working in the technical industry since 2006. As a technical expert, Bella has written technical blogs, manuals, white papers, and reviews for many websites.
SOURCE: Billie: A Heartbreaking Documentary Film About The Jazz Maestro Billie Holiday
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