In a review on this website of a previous Anita O'Day album, I said
that "the more I hear Anita O'Day, the higher she rises in my
notional league table of great female jazz singers". This double
DVD set fortifies that belief.
The first of the two DVDs is a documentary made just before Anita
died in 2006. It makes an excellent introduction to the singer's life
and work. The DVD title - "The Life of a Jazz Singer" -
is appropriate, because Anita O'Day was a genuine jazz singer. Interviewed
on the DVD, Leonard Feather says that the essential qualities of a
jazz vocalists are the timbre or tone quality of the voice, phrasing,
selecting amazing musicians as accompanists, and the choice of material.
He might also have added "singing in tune" and delivering
the lyrics clearly and with feeling. While Anita's intonation strayed
occasionally, she let you hear the words perfectly and always sang
with feeling. Above all, she was a really daring improviser. Trumpeter
Denny Roche said "She was a musician who used her voice as an
instrument".
The DVD includes extensive interviews with O'Day talking about her
upbringing and career, illustrated by film footage. The latter includes
Anita singing with the Gene Krupa Orchestra, where she made her name
in duets with trumpeter Roy Eldridge. In those days, it was unusual
to see a black man and a white woman entertaining together - perhaps
Krupa had learnt from Benny Goodman that there should be no colour
bar in music. There is also film of her singing with Stan Kenton's
band - her next important job.
Anita left Kenton to strike out on her own with a small group - a
wise decision, as a big band hindered her need to improvise, whereas
a small group allowed her to take risks and do the unexpected. A botched
tonsillectomy had removed her uvula and left her with an inability
to sing very long notes or use much vibrato, but she took advantage
of this by multiplying the number of short notes she sang. Yet she
could also interpret a ballad with sensitivity.
These qualities are evident in the second DVD, which is a collection
of her live performances. The quality of the (mostly) black-and-white
film is often poor, starting with dimly-lit footage of Anita singing
Boogie Blues at a 1963 Tokyo concert with a big band. Then
we jump back in time to her classic versions of Thanks for the
Boogie Ride and Let Me Off Uptown with the Krupa band,
and a strange song called Tabby the Cat with Stan Kenton.
The contrast between these tracks and the following Body and Soul
underlines the value of Anita switching to a small group. Filmed at
Art Ford's Jazz Party and accompanied simply by a quartet, Anita takes
huge liberties with the song, although the group finds it hard to
keep up with her twists and turns. The sound quality as well as the
film quality is rather poor here.
The DVD continues to shift around in time: moving back to the 1963
Tokyo concert for Let's Fall in Love, which is followed by
a performance of the same song at Art Ford's Jazz Party - taken at
a faster tempo but again with fuzzy sound. The highspot of the DVD
is O'Day's classic rendition of Sweet Georgia Brown at the
1958 Newport Jazz Festival, where her performance was as memorable
as her striking outfit. Anita was not well-pleased when Norman Granz
told her she would be appearing at Newport at 4.50 on a Sunday afternoon,
but her performance was a triumph. This film clip is in clear, glorious
colour. Sadly, the DVD omits her Newport performance of Tea for
Two but it includes a version of the song from a 1963 concert
in London.
Travellin' Light displays Anita's way with a slow song, while
her scatting in Four Brothers with the Billy May Orchestra
is a wonder to see and hear. This DVD also contains interviews with
O'Day which were abbreviated for the documentary: talking about the
songs she recorded and the people she knew. Anita is candid about
her difficult life, and particularly her long years of heroin addiction,
which she was lured into by drummer and friend John Poole (himself
an addict) and which she finally overcame through a painful "cold
turkey" process. Even recounting such harsh experiences, Anita's
humour shines through, justifying pianist Billy Taylor's opinion:
"She was fun".
This is a "must-have" set for anyone who cares about fine
jazz singing. The only drawbacks are that, however good it is, one
may not want to watch the documentary very often, and the second DVD
is marred by some poor-quality film footage. But the set is accompanied
by a 32-page booklet crammed with photos and assessments of the singer,
including the first chapter of Anita's autobiography, High Times,
Hard Times.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Megaforce 2028613272
