Anita O'Day shows in this set why her over-all feeling and delivery mark her as one of the few women in the field who could ever accurately be called a jazz singer. She was a more imaginative singer than her imitators, not merely because she was original, but also because she was much more inventive. Two talented and utterly dissimilar arrangers contributed the imaginatively varied scores for these sessions, the first two by Buddy Bregman, the last three by Jimmy Giuffre.
Reveling in the settings the difference between hot and cool Anita ODay has a great time, not only on the swinging tunes, to which she contributes some trademark, zestful, inventive scatting, but also in singing ballads with a sure touch. Backing her, Bregman and Giuffre used some of the finest Hollywood jazzmen, with Stan Getz particularly warm and lyrical on I Never Had a Chance.
These are probably the best jazz sides recorded by Anita ODay in the Fifties, and if you enjoy vocal records in the slightest bit, do yourself a favor and get this one.
Tracklist
Total time: 60:32 min.
01. You're the Top (Cole Porter) 2:24
02. Honeysuckle Rose (Waller-Razaf) 3:13
03. No Moon at All (Mann-Evans) 2:27
04. I'll See You in My Dreams (Jones-Kahn) 2:49
05. I Never Had a Chance (Irving Berlin) 4:22
06. Stompin' at the Savoy (Goodman-Sampson-Webb-Razaf) 3:18
07. Sweet Georgia Brown (Casey-Pinkard) 4:12
08. I Won't Dance (Kern-McHugh-Fields-Hammerstein II-Harbach) 3:25
09. Let's Begin (Kern-Harbach) 2:19
10. Come Rain or Come Shine (Arlen-Mercer) 2:14
11. You're a Clown (Albany-Albany) 2:31
12. Easy Come, Easy Go (Green-Heyman) 3:11
13. A Lover Is Blue (Mundy-Young-Carpenter) 3:01
14. Mack the Knife (Weill-Blitzstein) 3:07
15. Gone with the Wind (Magidson-Wrubel) 3:24
16. Hershey Bar (Johnny Mandel) 2:06
17. My Heart Belongs to Daddy (Cole Porter) 2:52
18. Orphan Annie (P.D.) 2:01
19. The Way You Look Tonight (Kern-Fields) 2:10
20. It Had to Be You (Jones-Kahn) 3:11
21. Hooray for Hollywood (Whiting-Mercer) 2:22
Album details
Sources:
Tracks #1-4, from the album "Anita" (Verve MGV-2000)
Tracks #5-9, from the album "Pick Yourself Up" (Verve MGV-2043)
Tracks #10-21, from the album "Cool Heat" (Verve MGV-8312)
Anita O'Day, sings in all tracks
Personnel on #1-4:
Milt Bernhart, Lloyd Ulyate, Joe Howard, Si Zentner (tb), Paul Smith (p), Barney Kesse (g), Joe Mondragon (b), Alvin Stoller (d).
Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, December 8, 1955
Personnel on #5-9:
Pete Candoli, Conte Candoli (tp), Frank Rosolino (tb), Bud Shank (as), Stan Getz (ts), Jimmy Giuffre (bs), André Previn (p), Barney Kessel (g), Joe Mondragon (b), Alvin Stoller (d).
Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, December 20, 1956
Personnel on #10-13:
Frank Rosolino (tb), Bud Shank, Alan Harding (fl, as), Jim Hall (g), George Morrow (b), Mel Lewis (d).
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, April 6, 1959
Personnel on #14-17:
Frank Rosolino (tb), Art Pepper, Les Robinson (as), Richie Kamuca (ts), Jimmy Giuffre (bs), George Morrow (b), Mel Lewis (d).
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, April 7, 1959
Personnel on #18-21:
Conte Candoli, Jack Sheldon, Tom Reeves (tp), Frank Rosolino, Gil Falco (tb), Les Robinson (as), Jimmy Giuffre (bs), Jim Hall (g), George Morrow (b), Mel Lewis (d).
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, April 8, 1959
Liner notes: Nat Hentoff / Jordi Pujol
Original sessions produced by Norman Granz
This CD compilation produced by Jordi Pujol
Blue Moon Producciones Discograficas S.L.
