Most presentations of Billie Holiday, whether in picture or in words, feature her as the sad victim of hard times and hard drugs; the black woman wailing the autobiographical blues as she’s driven down to pathetic ruin. Mining a treasure trove of utterly new material, this documentary sets the Billie Holiday record straight–beautifully. It does precisely what a jazz film is supposed to do: it gives you abundant footage of the artist herself, doing her thing.