The United States vs. Billie Holiday: a Late Contender

These days, jazz is probably a little too dependent on the support of elite cultural institutions. It has its own constituent organization within the Lincoln Center and it is taught at many of the finest universities (like Julliard and Berklee). Wouldn’t Harry Anslinger, the notorious jazz-hating Narc, be surprised. He made of point of targeting jazz musicians in his war on drugs, settling on Billie Holiday as his prime focus. That aspect of Holiday’s tragic story comes to the fore in Lee Daniels’ The United States vs. Billie Holiday, based on Johan Hari’s nonfiction book (primarily this excerpt here), which premieres today on Hulu.

Holiday had a difficult life that she made even more painful through her own decisions. While most jazz musicians closed ranks around each other, largely stymying Anslinger’s prosecution/persecution attempts as the chief of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (a precursor to the DEA), Holiday perversely kept getting involved with the wrong sort of men, who were only too willing to betray her. Her determination to keep singing the searing anti-lynching song “Strange Fruit” further inspired Anslinger’s wrath. Weirdly, Holiday defiantly performed it much more frequently than Suzan-Lori Parks’ screenplay give her credit for. However, Daniels is quite shrewd to hold off showing her characteristically devastating performances until roughly midway through.

Essentially, the film starts with Holiday well into her post-Basie fame, periodically flashing-back to scenes from her harrowing early years in Baltimore. We understand why she continues to fall into cycles of abuse, choosing the wrong men over and over. Jimmy Fletcher was recruited to be one of them, but the undercover agent will fall in love with Holiday, even while he builds a case against her. At least when he collars Holiday it is a legitimate bust, but he still regrets it.

Daniels and Parks will please real jazz fans because they also give considerable screen time to her great platonic love, tenor legend Lester “Pres” Young. Tyler James Williams is terrific as Pres, playing him in a more forceful and engaged manner than he is often presented (many thanks for that). Yet, it seems like a lost opportunity not to depict their final bittersweet reunion on the classic Sound of Jazz broadcast. Instead, US VS leaves them on bad terms.

Regardless, Andra Day lives up to the awards hype as Lady Day, especially in her scenes opposite Williams and Trevante Rhodes, who fully conveys the depth and extent of Fletcher’s conflicting angst, guilt, regret, and lust. The natural inflections and intonations of Day’s voice are almost an eerie dead ringer for Holiday’s—so much so older jazz fans might assume it is a deliberate imitation. Dramatically, she gives a raw and fearless performance, on both physical and emotional levels.

Unfortunately, Garrett Hedlund is definitely the weak link of the film. Daniels unambiguously places him in the center of a racist government conspiracy, not without justification. Yet, his Anslinger lacks the subtlety to be a realistically compelling character or the flamboyant scenery chewing to be a memorable villain. He is just too bland and boring.

Presidential Salute

Every year St. Peter’s remembers Lester Young, "the Prez.," around the anniversary of his death with the To Prez. with Love concert. This year was a great opportunity to hear headliners like Jimmy Heath and Lee Konitz for only $15.

Lester Young’s influence on jazz is well documented. His cool tone on the tenor saxophone contrasted with the muscular sound of his predecessor in the Fletcher Henderson band, Coleman Hawkins. It took a while to catch on, but his sound would be tremendously influential, as is well documented with artists like Stan Getz, but less acknowledged in the case of Charlie Parker.

Young would also have an enormous impact on language. If you’ve ever talked about being “cool” or had “eyes” for someone, you’re talking Lester’s lingo. Cultural images of Young persist years after his death. Dexter Gordon’s character of Dale Turner in Bertrand Tavernier’s ‘Round Midnight, was largely a composite of Bud Powell and Young. Indeed, Gordon’s scenes with Lonette McKee’s Billie Holiday inspired character have more truth to them than the entire Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues.

Plenty of talented musicians came out to pay tribute. Jimmy Heath played an entertaining two tune set, with the very talented Aaron Diehl on piano. Heath opened with “Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” which he said was known in Young’s lexicon as “Poker Chips.” Lee Konitz first played with his longtime colleague Dick Katz, and later returned with a young group led by Alan Ferber. Diehl also played an appealing duet with Dominick Faricnacci, of Cleveland (not Italy as WBGO’s Brian Delp first erroneously stated in his intro—close enough.)

Young died on the Ides of March, so the To Prez concert is typically the Sunday before. This year, we were not helped by the new D.S.T. and that lost hour of sleep—I took off by 9:30 before the festivities moved out of the sanctuary. Is this really saving energy, compared to time spent downloading patches and the like?