Anita O'Day sang like an angel, lived like the devil and made enough great music to fill a couple of lifetimes.
Actually, she did live twice, considering that a heroin overdose killed her briefly in 1966, before revival with a then-experimental electric-shock device. It's practically a miracle O'Day lived to age 87, singing nearly until the time of her death in 2006.
“Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer" tells the tale in documentary form, enabling the self-destructive diva to give voice to her own story. The results aren't as searing as O'Day's autobiography, “High Times, Hard Times," among the most revealing of jazz memoirs. But the film offers something that no book can: music.
Listen to O'Day swinging exuberantly in her first big hit, “Let Me Off Uptown" or scatting feverishly as the Les Brown Band roars behind her. Such clips attest to the technical brilliance of O'Day's work, as well as its sensual appeal.
Actually, she did live twice, considering that a heroin overdose killed her briefly in 1966, before revival with a then-experimental electric-shock device. It's practically a miracle O'Day lived to age 87, singing nearly until the time of her death in 2006.
“Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer" tells the tale in documentary form, enabling the self-destructive diva to give voice to her own story. The results aren't as searing as O'Day's autobiography, “High Times, Hard Times," among the most revealing of jazz memoirs. But the film offers something that no book can: music.
Listen to O'Day swinging exuberantly in her first big hit, “Let Me Off Uptown" or scatting feverishly as the Les Brown Band roars behind her. Such clips attest to the technical brilliance of O'Day's work, as well as its sensual appeal.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
