O'DAY'S TRIBUTE TO LADY DAY
Giovanni | Chicago, IL | 01/21/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Anita O'Day is the underappreciated diva. From her humble beginnings in Chicago, to her association with Gene Krupa and onwards to her great successes (such as this album and any of her others from Verve) she always gave her all. Her life took many twists and turns including a battle that she ultimately won against booze and drugs, not unlike the woman immortalized here, Billie Holiday, whom O'Day has called her inspiration. No doubt you can hear some of Lady Day in Anita's voice on all her works, but never enough to call her a copycat. Her warm and subtle approach could (agumentatively) be likened to something of a Peggy Lee, and is always swingin'. Again, all tracks are songs Billie Holiday immortalized, and this unofficial tribute to Lady Day is a flawless collection. Backed by some of the best musicians in the business, Anita O'Day makes her way through these superbly. Immortal conductors Johnny Mandel and Russ Garcia wrote the charts, and on Garcia's arrangements, the great Ben Webster provides the sweet saxophone sounds. Mandel's work is stunning on the title track, as well as the swingin' I HEAR MUSIC and LOVER COME BACK TO ME. Garcia's best chart, in my opinion, is THE MOON LOOKS DOWN AND LAUGHS, with a sweet solo by the aformentioned Ben Webster on sax. While GOD BLESS THE CHILD will always remain Billie's alone (with Tony Bennett's versions a close second) Anita does a great job with this staple of Billie Holiday's repertoire. Other tracks of note are SOME OTHER SPRING a great song that has been recorded by many, and the swing treatment of the Irving Berlin penned REMEMBER. This was a comeback album of sorts for Anita, but her voice had only ripened and never sounds strained or labored at any juncture on this wonderful collection. A fitting tribute to one of music's greatest figures, by a wrongly underappreciated lady of song, Anita O'Day."
An absolute MUST BUY...
Aaron | Aaron | 03/01/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Simply one of Anita O'Day's finest recordings, though all of her Verve re-issue's are worth picking up. This one has original cover art work and liner notes well worth the price."
The best jazz singer around...
roarin20sGuy | 09/23/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Anita O'Day has always been one of the BEST and most respected(especially by other jazz singers and musicians) of the 40's, 50's and today. Since O'Day was so influenced in the 40's & 50's by Billie Holiday, it was only natular that she would record an entire album as a tribute to her idol. This CD re-issues the original LP "Trav'lin' Light" with original liner notes and cover art. This may very well be the difinitive O'Day Verve CD/LP re-issue, and of course it has been out of print in the US since it's original release, thankfully the Japanese know good music when thay see it, and we can get this essential set from Verve Japan, at a reasonably fair price, it's worth every red cent. Recommeded to everyone.Also if you get the chance you can see Anita O'Day(81 years old) sing at The Club Atlas in Los Angeles, California. She can still thrill an audience, she's still got it at 81. She performs almsot every week, also they are making a movie about her life, hopefully soon."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1