Frank Beacham: Anita ODay was born 95 years ago today. A jazz singer, originally named Anita Belle Colton, O’Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the girl singer.” Refusing to pander to any female stereotype, ODay presented herself as a hip jazz musician, wearing a band jacket and skirt as opposed to an evening gown. She changed her surname from Colton to ODay, pig Latin for dough, slang for money. ODay, along with Mel Tormé, is often grouped with the West Coast cool school of jazz. Like Tormé, ODay had some training in jazz drums (courtesy of her first husband Don Carter); her longest musical collaboration was with jazz drummer John Poole. While maintaining a central core of hard swing, ODays skills in improvisation of rhythm and melody put her squarely among the pioneers of bebop. She cited Martha Raye as the primary influence on her vocal style, also expressing admiration for Mildred Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. She always maintained that the accidental excision of her uvula during a childhood tonsillectomy left her incapable of vibrato, and unable to maintain long phrases. That botched operation, she claimed, forced her to develop a more percussive style based on short notes and rhythmic drive. However, when she was in good voice she could stretch long notes with strong crescendos and a telescoping vibrato, e.g. her live version of Sweet Georgia Brown at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, captured in Bert Sterns film Jazz on a Summers Day. O’Day died November 23, 2006 at age 87. Here, O’Day performs “Sweet Georgia Brown” and “Tea for Two” at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957. This clip is from “Jazz on a Summer’s Day.”
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 05:03:44 +0000
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