Search - Anita O'Day :: Diva Series

Anita O'Day: a relentless swinger who never uncompromised

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 11/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Anita O'Day was one of the greatest jazz singers we ever knew. She could scat, sing sweet and slow or swing at full speed! This album is an excellent introduction to Anita's singular talents.



The CD starts off strong with "What Is This Thing Called Love." Anita sings strong and the musical arrangement by Billy May is superlative. Anita truly puts her own stamp on this song with the pace of the song and her scat singing as well. The song is followed by a more soulful rendition of "Ten Cents A Dance" which Anita performs so elegantly! Again, Billy May's musical arrangement works perfectly here.



Other great songs on this album include "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" with its beautiful musical arrangement; Anita sings the introductory verse to make this song even more special for us. "Tea For Two" was recorded live at Mr. Kelly's Restaurant in Chicago in April 1958. Anita again puts her own stamp onto this classic ballad by picking up the pace; the audience applause at the end of this track proves she hit it just right.



I especially enjoy "Miss Brown To You." Anita sings this soulfully and yet somewhat playfully at the same time and the arrangement by Russ Garcia is elegance in capital letters! "Let's Face The Music And Dance" is beautifully done with Anita again in excellent form; the arrangement by Buddy Bregman is wonderful. "Peel Me A Grape" is romantic and Anita demonstrates her ability to handle the romantic genre very well. The CD ends with "Avalon." Anita swings somewhat soulfully again this time and the musical arrangement by Bill Holman is magnificent.



The quality of the sound is excellent. Allan Tucker at Foothill Digital in New York City did a great job of remastering these tracks; you'll swear Anita is standing right next to you as you listen to this! Will Friedwald contributes an essay about Anita's career that is very informative; and the song credits are in the liner notes, too.



Overall, this CD is an excellent introduction to Anita's masterful ability to conquer just about any song in any style. Whether she was scatting, swinging hard and fast or moving along somewhat slower and more soulfully Anita never compromised quality. Each song on this CD is a complete and independent work of art that only Anita could produce. Her passing saddens me; but because of the gifts she shared with us we will never forget the incomparable Anita O'Day.

"

Great Introduction to Anita

Brent Trafton | Long Beach, CA | 01/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is truly a desert island album. If you have never heard Anita, this collection of greatest hits is an excellent introduction.



This album has 18 tracks from her years at Verve. Some of the songs are from albums that have never appeared on CD, which makes this album mandatory.



Anita is the greatest jazz singer of all time. Others might come close, but nobody can match her style and agility. When you hear her version of "Peel Me a Grape," you will never want to hear Diane Krall again. Her versions of "Honeysuckle Rose," "Love Me or Leave Me," and anything by Cole Porter are definitive.



There are not many CD's that can change your life. Anita O'day's "Diva" is one of those albums. Buy it! It will be the best $12 you ever spent."

Jazz Singing At Its Very Best

Brent Trafton | 08/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Husky-voiced Anita O'Day may not have had the hit totals [as a solo artist] as her contemporaries in this series like Sarah Vaughan or Ella Fitzgerald, but that does not detract one iota from her position as one of THE seminal female jazz vocalists of her day.



Indeed, the only song she ever managed to put onto the Billboard charts on her own was the very unjazz-like Tennessee Waltz, normally a slow syrupy ballad that was a huge Country hit in 1948, 1949 and 1951 for Pee Wee King & His Golden West Cowboys, and a pop hit in 1951 for each of Patti Page, Guy Lombardo, Les Paul & Mary Ford, and Jo Stafford [each Top 10]. The Fontane Sisters also took it to # 20 that year, and even Spike Jones, giving it his own special slant, had a # 13 with the tune.



Bringing up the rear, in terms of chart position, was Anita O'Day with The All Stars, whose jazz rendition topped out at # 24, likely because audiences didn't quite know how to take her unsyrupy arrangement [the same would apply to Sam Cooke's soul rendition of the song in 1964]. But if you listen to Anita's effort today it's the only one from that original 1951 grouping that has withstood the test of time - as has Cooke's.



Backing her, as the All Stars, were Doc Severinsen and Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Al Klink on alto sax, pianist Teddy Wilson, trombonists Will Bradley and Cutty Cutshall, Billy Mure on guitar, and Benny Carter on bass. All Stars indeed.



Earlier, with the Gene Krupa band, she sang on the 1941 hits Georgia On My Mind [# 18], Just A Little Bit South Of North Carolina [# 9], and Let Me Off Uptown [# 10 also featuring trumpeter Roy Eldridge ... "blow, Roy, blow ...."]. In 1944 she briefly joined the Stan Kenton orchestra and was the featured vocalist on And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine, a # 4 in 1944. In 1945/46 she was back with Krupa and had hits with Chickery Chick [# 10] and Boogie Blues [# 9].



The success of each of those hits owed as much to her distinctive voice as it did the bands in question, and in this album you are treated to those smokey vocal chords warbling and scat singing their way through some timeless standards.



Verve has done a wonderful job with this series, each of which should find its way into any serious jazz collection."