Queens of Jazz: The Joy and Pain of the Jazz Divas

Top 8 Billed Cast

Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee

Self (archive footage)

Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan

Self (archive footage)

Nina Simone
Nina Simone

Self (archive footage)

Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald

Self (archive footage)

Annie Ross
Annie Ross

Self

Melody Gardot
Melody Gardot

Self

Madeleine Peyroux
Madeleine Peyroux

Self

Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday

Self (archive footage)

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    Queens of Jazz: The Joy and Pain of the Jazz Divas

  • Overview

    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.

  • Release Date

    2013-05-10

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  • Languages:

    English
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