Lady Day : the many faces of Billie Holiday / a co-production of Toby Byron/Multiprises in association with Taurus Film, Munich and VideoArts Japan ; directed by Matthew Seig ; written by Robert O'Meally ; produced by Toby Byron and Richard Saylor.
David Smyrl, narrator; Ruby Dee, Carmen McRae, Annie Ross, Buck Clayton, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Mal Waldron, Milt Gabler, Albert Murray and others; performances by Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lester Young, Ben Webster, Artie Shaw, Bessie Smith, and many others. Originally broadcast on television in 1990. "Newly digitally remastered"--Container. Also published as a book by Robert O'Meally.
Contents:
Opening (:48) -- Raw genius (7:04) -- Growing up in Baltimore (7:09) -- Swingin' Lady Day (8:29) -- Strange fruit (10:43) -- Swing street (11:26) -- An influential life (12:18) -- Credits (:55).
Summary:
"The Many Faces of Billie Holiday invites viewers to see the many faces of this 'dark lady of the sonnets', as one poet called her, and to appreciate her undying art more deeply. Most presentations feature Lady Day as the sad victim of hard times and drugs. The simple fact of her life that matters above all others is that she was a great artist who, with Louis Armstrong, invented modern jazz singing. Mining a treasure trove of completely new information, the producers set the record straight -- and beautifully. In a voice that is Billie-like in its rasping wiseness and its ring, stage and screen star Ruby Dee read from Holiday's autobiography Lady Sings the Blues."--Back of container.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.