Tags
Anita O'Day, cool, diva, documentary, Gene Krupa, Jay Clayton, jazz canary, John Poole, Johnny Mandel, Newport Jazz Festival
JazzBabies, I was hit by a lightning bolt this week and haven’t been the same since. The odd thing is that the jazz musician who landed this bolt on me is not anybody I haven’t heard before. No new discovery. No stranger to my personal jazz repertoire.
It was actually a documentary about jazz canary Anita O’Day, that shook my world. The documentary, Anita O’Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer, was made in 2007 and immediately began to garner major accolades.
“One of the greatest jazz films ever made.” “O’Day is the epitome of cool.”
“The best documentary about a jazz artist since Thelonius Monk: Straight, No Chaser. But you don’t have to be a jazz fan to dig Anita O’Day.”
“Superb documentary; successful on every level.” “Gold standard for documentaries.”
“Invaluable.” “Fast-paced and enthralling.”
I don’t disagree with a single word from those reviews, JazzBabies, and I thank the jazz spirits for the moment I saw this one on a stack of unshelved DVDs at my library last week.
I’ve loved Anita O’Day’s vocals since I first heard them oh so long ago, and I’ve written about her more than once here, included a song or two or three, but watching 90 minutes of O’Day in interviews and performances, listening to the praises of musicians and composers and producers and others who crossed her path, hearing her own honest reportage of the good times and bad – she had them both – was different.
I took Friday afternoon off to sit with her for those 90 minutes and when they were over, I was in tears and awe, missing her genius and grateful to have listened for those 90 minutes.
The documentary was made a year after her death, and believe me she was cookin’ right up to the end. Her late interviews and even a last album aptly titled Indestructible demonstrate a spirit that was going out on top, full of talent, humor, wit and wisdom.
As she reports, her association with Gene Krupa early on came about after he heard her and said, “You can swing. You’d better come with us.” If there was anything Anita O’Day could do, it was swing. She was known not only for her keen sense of rhythm, but also for her unique phrasings, her role in breaking down racial barriers and her distinctive sense of what she wanted and going full out to get it. No regrets.
Listening to her often makes me think of painting – the improvisations, the interplay with the music and musicians, the variations where you least expect them. These are the colors of jazz and, in particular, of Anita O’Day.
When it came to pulling together the tunes for this week, I was stopped cold. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t think of anybody else to put on the program with O’Day. Not this time. Not now.
So today I’m giving you as much flavor of Anita O’Day as I can in one post. If you like her as I do, you’ll find many more tunes available. If you don’t, you’ll play some of your own CDs or watch a ball game. Just know before you make the choice+, she’s one of the greatest jazz canaries of all time.
I’ll start with one of her live recordings made during the years when she and many other musicians spent a lot of time outside the U.S., the years after rock and roll pushed jazz to a back corner at home. This one is from a concert in Sweden and you’ll be swinging right along with O’Day, flying to the moon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-mg9pGqo6Q
The 1958 Newport Jazz Festival was home to what became a legendary performance by O’Day when she took to the stage at what she laughingly called “tea time” in the film, her set scheduled for 5:00 p.m. in the afternoon. She looks like she could be a lady off for a tea party in her stunning black and white outfit including “glass slippers” (popular in the day) and a hat “with real ostrich feathers.” The hour was not exactly prime for a jazz singer, but O’Day made it hers and her version of “Sweet Georgia Brown” is – as I said – legendary. This is a two for one recording of both that tune and her own great take on “Tea for Two.” Well, it was a tea party, right? The shots of the audience are fun and range from enchanted to the nonchalant young woman reading “Camille” and the girl with the ice cream bar. This particular year’s festival became food for Bert Stern’s film Jazz on a Summer’s Day. (Trivia Sidebar: Stern did the last photo shoot of Marilyn Monroe. I saw this show in Manhattan when the book was published, and it was heartbreaking.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcMmVGrzpy8
I had a little trouble tracking down the recording information for this next one, but if the chicken bones and the salt over my shoulder worked, I may have found something that works: A recording made in 1964 with Al Plank on piano and O’Day’s longtime drummer John Poole on – well – drums. I hear the bass but haven’t been able to identify who’s playing it. “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6MY–5KX24&index=14&list=RDEQ8iJVm-1lc
One of the comments in the film came I think from composer Johnny Mandel who spoke about O’Day’s ability to deliver the song because she felt the lyrics. They weren’t just words, she understood what was in them. This was like the advice I got from singer Jay Clayton with whom I studied jazz vocal in Seattle. Jay spent a lot of time going over the lyrics and what they were about, how to tell the story in them. “If it’s a love song, sing them to the person you love. If you’re not in love, sing them to the person you’d like to be in love with.” I think O’Day does a terrific job doing just that on this one from another of her tours – live from Japan in 1963. And she has a lot of fun with it, too. What could be better? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XH4Uzusrc0
You’ve probably had your Anita O’Day fix for this time, JazzBabies. Thanks for staying with me and indulging my affection for this canary. I’ll leave you with this little clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMFuhabZl64 and this link to the trailer for the documentary itself. It’s worth 90 minutes of your week and reminds us that age is no barrier to creative spirit or artistic integrity. They can get us through a whole lifetime. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaJivvPePwo
Have a great week, JazzBabies!
Ciao,
JazzCookie