In 1957, New York photojournalist Jerry Dantzic spent time with the iconic singer Billie Holiday during a two-week run of performances at the Newark, New Jersey, nightclub Sugar Hill. The resulting images offer a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of Billie with her family, friends, and her pet chihuahua, Pepe; playing with her godchild (son of her autobiography s coauthor, William Dufty); washing dishes at the Duftys home; walking the streets of Newark; in her hotel room; waiting backstage or having a drink in front of the stage; as well as performing. The years and the struggles seem to vanish when she sings; her face lights up. Later that year, Dantzic photographed her at the second New York Jazz Festival at Randall s Island, in color. Only a handful of the photographs in the book have ever been published."