About the categories musician and singer again:
“Anita was not a singer, in my estimation. She was a musician who used her voice as an instrument.”That’s the trumpeter Denny Roche speaking, in the documentary Anita O’Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer (dir. Robbie Cavolina and Ian McCrudden, 2007), a great documentary about a great singer and musician. O’Day’s sense of time and her phrasing: where did they come from? She was a wonder.
If you’ve never seen the great clip of Anita O’Day at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival: here you go.
She looks terrific in that film!
ReplyDeleteShe did some great albums for Verve in the 1950s and early 60s. And I love her work with Krupa and Eldridge. Her Stan Kenton phase, though, I dunno---I find "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" a really annoying song, and worse: "I'm Goin' Mad for a Pad." I never thought that band was the right fit for her, though it was great for June Christy and Chris Connor.
I’m a big fan of the Verve years too. Those records were in the house when I was a little kid.
ReplyDeleteYou should seek out the film if you haven’t seen it yet, Adair. There’s a great “Body and Soul" from a television show, apparently unrehearsed, with O’Day directing the musicians on the spot. And the best “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" I’ve ever heard.
The film: meaning the documentary.
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