Oct 15 2008
The Brilliance of Anita O’Day
I will be the first to admit that when it comes to jazz music I am not a big fan of the vocalists. I mean, sure, there are some jazz songs that are kind of cool, but when I reach for my jazz collection, you are going to find lots of horns and bass players but you are not going to find much in the way of singers. I just want my jazz to be music.
So, while I am certain that during my time at the jazz radio station I played plenty of Anita O’Day music, she did not loom large on my radar screen. That changed just this past week with the release of the documentary “Anita O’Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer” which is in theaters now. I am linking you to Roger Ebert’s review of the film as I have yet to seen it.
O’Day claimed that when she was young an operation on her tonsils severed her uvula. She also claimed this meant she could not maintain the vibratto or hold out the long notes as much as other jazz singers. This forced her into the unique singing style you hear from her.
She went off to play with big jazz names of the time in her teens. She claimed she lived a “jazz musicians life.” This meant that almost as soon as she hit the road she developed a habit for alcohol and heroin. She spent most of her life battling her addictions and yet managed to live to a relatively ripe old age compared to far too many of her contemporaries.
Other singers such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday get mentioned when you talk about great female jazz singers. I would say O’Day should be there as well and for evidence I present her performance from the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958. The clip below is from YouTube, but comes from the movie “Jazz on a Summer’s Day” which documented that event.
I like how her voice does not overpower the intruments. Instead, she becomes part of the music and her voice solos just as much as the horns and other instruments behind her. She also claims that she was completely high during this entire performance, which could at least explain the wardrobe choice.
