“Played out by the band, love is a losing hand”

Listening to an Amy Winehouse song for one minute you would think you were listening to an old school Dinah Washington record; there is no doubt by the musical Gods that Winehouse was indeed One of the Greats. But like many souls who reach a certain level of fame, it all becomes somewhat of a whirlwind phenomenon; it’s hard to really prepare for such things.

Arriving at the Lincoln Center last week for the early screening of Asif Kapadia’s AMY documentary I was ready for her story from the very beginning. And hearing everything about her life it’s just like: we hardly even knew her; she just left us these beautiful, heartbreaking songs without a chance of hear her side of all the media’s bullshit.

After seeing how bad it really was with the drugs, the paparazzi, the media, a seemingly careless inner circle of family and friends, not to mention her “boyfriend” who wasn’t a whole lot of help in recovering, I don’t necessarily blame solely Amy for her addiction; so many times she could have taken off to recover, but somehow spiraled into a heavy performance-packed schedule and constantly being distracted by inner demons.

But Amy didn’t need anything, especially drugs, to be cool; Amy the DEFINITION of cool. Known for drunk-dialing her hip-hop buddies with freestyle lyrics “for the next album” or casually breaking out in song for her best friend’s birthdays, it is easy to see the beauty in her heart and innate love for the music (yes, Amy Winehouse probably knew more about jazz than you).

By the end of the movie your heart will be a bit dismantled, but seeing the footage of her early on as a young, aspiring musician is really something. You will see why the media was wrong and why Amy is a Tony Bennett is a Dinah Washington IS A FREAKING STEVIE WONDER, a truly gifted musician with a heart and soul bigger than anything you’ve ever heard.