Billie Holiday

The documentary tracks the diva's difficult progress as she emerges from the tough, testosterone-fuelled world of the big bands of the 30s and 40s, to fill nightclubs and saloons across the US in the 50s and early 60s as a force in her own right. Looking at the lives and careers of six individual singers (Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone and Annie Ross), the film not only talks to those who knew and worked with these queens of jazz, but also to contemporary singers who sit on the shoulders of these trailblazing talents without having to endure the pain and hardship it took for them to make their highly individual voices heard above the prejudice of mid-century America.

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Performance footage of Billie Holiday may admittedly be scant, but this issue compiles into a single release, song cuts from some of Holiday's live filmed performances that are still existent. Rare performances from the legendary jazz vocalist filmed throughout the 1950's. Features Billie backed by other Jazz luminaries like Count Basie, Ben Webster, Gerry Mulligan, Doc Cheatham, Mal Waldron and others.

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This remarkable DVD includes rare TV and film performances, an especially rare radio interview with Mike Wallace, an audio-only rehearsal session with pianist Jimmy Rowles, audio interviews with friends and fellow musicians, an interactive timeline and an evocative photo-document gallery featuring hundreds of dates and images, from rare photos to personal letters, plus Lady Day's complete recording history for major record companies. Performance highlights include three from 1956's 'Stars Of Jazz' TV that are seen here for the first time since their original broadcast, Holiday's first appearance on film, Duke Ellington's "Saddest Tale," and the classic "Fine And Mellow" with Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, and other jazz greats.

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Here's a perfect chance to compare and contrast a clutch of the greatest jazz divas in the history of the genre. "Sassy" Sarah Vaughan appears along with her fellow pop-jazz queens, sultry Lena Horne, Ella "The First Lady of Song" Fitzgerald, gorgeous Dorothy Dandridge and Billie "Lady Day" Holiday. Rarely has there been more outstanding vocal talent compiled on a single disc.

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In 1937, after seeing a photo depicting the lynching of a black man in the south, Bronx-born high school teacher Abel Meeropol wrote a poem entitled "Strange Fruit" that begins with the words: "Southern trees bear a strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root." He set the poem to music and a few years later convinced Billy holiday to record it in a legendary heartbreaking performance. Intertwining jazz genealogy, biography, performance footage, and the history of lynching, director Joel Katz fashions a fascinating discovery of the lost story behind a true American classic. Written by Excerpted from Coolidge Corner Theatre Program Update

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A star-studded tribute (from the creators of That's Entertainment) to the contributions of Afro-Americans in film over the last century. Vanessa Williams traces the struggles and triumphs of the superstars of music and film. Among the many artists featured are: Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Little Richard, Also included are today's contemporary superstars: Snoop Dogg, Ice T, Quincy Jones, Spike Lee, Russell Simmons, and many, more! 80 minutes plus DVD bonus features.

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This film about the life of Billie Holiday is as mesmerising and exquisite as her legendary singing voice, featuring interviews with the legendary jazz singer reveal the story behind her songs.

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Jazz is a ten part series that explores the evolution – and the genius – of America’s greatest original art form, focusing on the extraordinary men and women who could do something remarkable – create art on the spot. Jazz celebrates their profoundly enduring, endlessly varied, and infinitely alluring music in the context of the complicated country that gave birth to and influenced it, and was in turn transformed by it.

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Burt Lancaster narrates this overview of the incredible career of jazz saxophonist Benny Carter, one of the chief architects of the Big Band sound. COMMENTARY BY QUINCY JONES, DIZZY GILLESPIE, ELLA FITZGERALD, LENA HORNE AND MORE

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Lady Day: The Many Faces of Billie Holiday integrates film and video performances, recordings, words from her controversial autobiography (read by actress Ruby Dee) and interviews with artists who played with her (pianist Mal Waldron, trumpeter Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison), Milt Gabler (owner of Commodore and a producer at Decca), author Albert Murray and vocalists Carmen McRae and Annie Ross.

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This in-depth examination of the life and career of clarinetist and bandleader Artie Shaw cuts between archival footage, location shots, and an interview with Shaw himself. Berman illustrates the tumultuous, complicated, and remarkable legacy of a man who brought numerous innovations to jazz and swing music during the big-band era.

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This acclaimed documentary depicts the sad life of the greatest of all jazz singers, Billie Holiday, a life engraved with personal tragedy and ultimately shortened by drug abuse and alcoholism. Her story and career are portrayed through rare archival film and television appearances, memorable renditions of her greatest songs, and interviews with friends and colleagues.

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Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.

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Short film featuring performances by Frank "Sugar Chile" Robinson, Billie Holiday and Count Basie and his sextet. From the Cinema Apart Collection.

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A gambling hall owner relocates from New Orleans to Chicago and entertains his patrons with hot jazz by Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Woody Herman, and others.

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A rising nineteen-year-old singer by the name of Billie Holiday made her screen debut in this musical landmark, which features Duke Ellington and his orchestra performing his symphonic jazz piece “A Rhapsody of Negro Life” set to scenes of everyday African American life.

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Unscrupulously ambitious, Brutus Jones escapes from jail after killing a guard and, through bluff and bravado, finds himself the emperor of a Caribbean island.

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