Track Listings (18) - Disc #1| All Artists: Anita O'Day Title: Finest Hour Members Wishing: 0 Total Copies: 0 Label: Universal Japan Release Date: 12/21/2001 Album Type: Import Genres: Jazz, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists Styles: Traditional Jazz & Ragtime, Vocal Jazz, Oldies, Vocal Pop, Traditional Vocal Pop Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 |
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Search - Anita O'Day :: Finest Hour
 | Anita O'Day Finest Hour Genres: Jazz, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists
No jazz singer has ever swung harder or scatted with more infectious enthusiasm than Anita O'Day. This selection of her Verve recordings from 1954 to 1962 shows just how many contexts O'Day could enliven with her presence.... more » |
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Amazon.com No jazz singer has ever swung harder or scatted with more infectious enthusiasm than Anita O'Day. This selection of her Verve recordings from 1954 to 1962 shows just how many contexts O'Day could enliven with her presence. Some of her earliest hits are heard here in reprised but still effective form. The 1956 version of "Let Me Off Uptown," with partners Gene Krupa and Roy Eldridge, rekindles its original energy, and arranger Gary McFarland creates a driving 1961 revision of "Boogie Blues." She's clearly comfortable at the fastest tempos, singing "Tea for Two" and "Them There Eyes" at breakneck speed, enjoying matching improvisational wits with an elite assortment of musicians including Oscar Peterson and Phil Woods. A few ballads, like "God Bless the Child" with just Barney Kessel's guitar for accompaniment, provide effective contrast. O'Day is terrific, also, on two wittily steamy selections with Cal Tjader from 1962, "An Occasional Man" and "Peel Me a Grape." --Stuart Broomer Similar CDs
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CD ReviewsAnita the Lionheart Sasha | at sea...sailing somewhere | 04/23/2001 (5 out of 5 stars) "She may have been overshadowed by Ella Fitzgerald in Norman Granz's "Verve" company but to my ears Anita O'Day belongs to pantheon of all-time great jazz singers.This compilation presents the cream of 14 albums she recorded for "Verve",and as 8 of them are out of print,this is the only way to hear some otherwise rare and forgotten gems.If her voice mirrors her soul,Anita O'Day must have been very cool,ironic lady but just when you think she never let herself go,she surprises with poignant version of "God Bless The Child" (from her loving tribute to Billie Holiday) which she sings with real understanding and feeling.After all the vocal fireworks,her worldless vocalising and fast-scatting,it came as surprise to notice that O'Day was actually NOT born with big/pretty/beautiful voice,but its a sheer power of her personality that somehow works for her.There is something of a "bad girl" in her,which I find very appealing and while so many of commercialy succesful singers of her time had vanished together with their cheerful smiles,work of cynical and cool Anita O'Day stands the test of time perfectly.(Note: the drummer John Poole,who worked with her for decades is present on a few selections.With so many great musicians behind her,O'Day still sounds more ballsy than all of them)" Anita O'Days Finest hour PERSIA MATINE | Mill Valley, Ca. | 01/12/2008 (5 out of 5 stars) "This is my favorite of all her albums. What a voice and the arrangements, well they don't do it like that anymore." Great compilation jo | uk | 01/13/2009 (5 out of 5 stars) "If you've never given Anita o'Day a try, then this is the perfect introduction to one of the great singers of the 20th century, alot of people will know who ella,sarah vaughan or billie holliay are and sound like, yet when you mention Anita you're likely to get a blank stare. Anita deserves and should be mentioned with all of the above, she was a great singer, had a totally distinctive voice, swung with the best of them and looked fantastic, if you've never seen it watch Jazz on a Summer's Day she steals the show. On this cd you get to hear some of the best versions of jazz standards recorded, believe me you won't regret buying this and once you've heard her, you'll want to hear more."
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