Jazz Articles about Anita O'Day

Anita O'Day: Indestructible!

by Jim Santella
April 19, 2006

Recorded at several sessions during the last several years, this program of standards comes from the heart. Although Anita O'Day's voice has changed considerably, she still swings comfortably with a relaxed composure and a positive outlook. She interprets each of these golden chestnuts with the same confident spirit that she showed us many years ago during her own prime time.

O'Day and trumpeter Joe Wilder, both in their 80s, are almost the same age. Trombonist Roswell Rudd is ...

Anita O'Day: Indestructible!

by R. Emmet Sweeney
April 8, 2006

Nostalgia can be a dangerous thing. Take, for example, Anita O'Day's new album. The 86 year-old, who made her name as the lead vocalist for the Gene Krupa Orchestra, hasn't released an album for thirteen years, and the results on Indestructible! are a clear indication why. Her voice has been ravaged by decades of hard living, and her attempts at singing behind the beat show the strain of effort. The shadow of her talent is there, but it's ...

Anita O'Day: Indestructible!

by Todd S. Jenkins
February 22, 2006

Anita O'Day Indestructible! Kayo Stereophonic 2006

In 2003 View Video put out a DVD of one of cabaret singer Mabel Mercer's last performances. She was in the twilight of her life, and every minute of her advanced age was reflected in her loving, yet passionless and cursory delivery of songs she must have sung thousands of times each. The audience was wrapped around her little finger in bittersweet attention, witnessing the denouement of a ...

Anita O'Day: Indestructible!

by C. Michael Bailey
February 22, 2006

Writer's Note: This is not the original article I submitted for publication. That article lacked a critical compass. I have taken advantage of the Internet and recast my opinions more thoughtfully. I have revised the article to better reflect my active rather than reactive feelings toward Indestructible!. After all, Anita O'Day is a National Treasure. Anita O'Day was born October 18, 1919 as the former Anita Belle Colton in Chicago, Illinois. She began singing in her ...

Anita O'Day & Cal Tjader: Time for 2

by Jim Nelson
May 9, 2004

Norman Granz's inspired pairing of Anita O'Day with Cal Tjader pays big dividends on 1962's Time for 2. The singer's megawatt personality perfectly complements the vibraphonist's tweedy, polite style. If Tjader's highly pureed blend of cool bop and Latin jazz impeded O'Day, it does not show. Her saucy phrasings and subtly ironic wit gently layer over his thoughtful vibes work.

The Latin isn't overdone here; Time for 2 is only lightly seasoned with congas and mambo rhythms, perhaps Tjader's nod ...

Anita O'Day: There's Only One...

by Charlie B. Dahan
October 14, 2003

Quicksilver Records dug out a true treasure when it reissued Anita O’Day’s Christmas of 1977 recordings session. While this recording came at the end of her accomplished career, it windows the singer and her individual and styled approach to song. Anita O’Day was raised in the music hotbed of Chicago, Illinois during a time when Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa were frequent performers. O’Day worked her way up to landing a gig with the Krupa outfit which ...

Anita O'Day: The Complete Anita O'Day Verve/Clef Sessions

by C. Andrew Hovan
November 1, 1999

In the world of song, there are clearly stylists and then there are true jazz vocalists. To the latter category, Anita O'Day has to be counted as one of the few who have built a recorded legacy as important as that of any jazz instrumentalist. A discriminating artist with a solid musical background, word has it that there's no easier way to put off O'Day than to hand her a lead sheet with just the printed lyrics, as she wants ...