Anita O'Day in Tokyo - singing at the club Sometime, 1978 - and really sounding wonderful! O'Day's got this completely charming way of handling things here - beautiful on the ballads, which seem to drip with all the learned lessons and fragile emotions experienced over the years - but also hitting a few more groovy moments that can remind us that her scatting is pretty nice too!

When Creed Taylor took over the production reins from Norman Granz when the latter sold Verve to MGM, he continued to place Anita O'Day in imaginative settings that challenged her creativity. On this LP, she was served with a collection of brilliant, difficult big-band charts, courtesy of a 27-year-old emerging master named Gary McFarland who mixed instrumental voices and tempo changes in querulous, turbulent combinations. Even a truly odd pick like "You Came a Long Way From St. Louis" is enlivened with sprouting shafts of outlaw muted brass and reeds. Another highlight is the contemporary update of O'Day's old flag-waver with the Krupa band, "Boogie Blues," complete with one of her patented flip upturned glissandos at the end…

At Mister Kelly's is a captivating live jazz recording by legendary vocalist Anita O'Day, originally captured during one of her celebrated performances at the famous Chicago nightclub Mister Kelly's and later released in this 1989 Verve Records edition. The album perfectly showcases O'Day’s remarkable sense of timing, expressive phrasing, and sophisticated approach to jazz interpretation. Known for her cool vocal tone and rhythmic flexibility, Anita O'Day transforms each standard into a lively and emotionally engaging performance filled with charm and technical brilliance. The intimate club atmosphere adds warmth and spontaneity to the recording, allowing listeners to experience the natural interaction between the singer, the musicians, and the audience. Songs such as “Tea For Two,” “But Not For Me,” and “The Song Is You” demonstrate her ability to swing effortlessly while maintaining elegance and emotional depth. The minimalist instrumentation keeps the focus on her voice, highlighting her impeccable control, improvisational instincts, and playful delivery. Throughout the album, O'Day balances sophistication with relaxed confidence, creating a timeless jazz performance that remains fresh and engaging decades after its original recording. At Mister Kelly's stands as an essential live vocal jazz album, capturing Anita O'Day at the height of her artistic powers.

A tribute to Anita O'Day's idol Billie Holiday - who had died less than two years before the making of this recording - O'Day's performances here are more notable for what she didn't borrow from her vocal role model. Selections like the title track find her generating a slightly bitter tone quality and languorous phrasing in the manner of Holiday, but most of this beautiful record find O'Day going her own way in a more forthright, less vulnerable manner. While O'Day's version of "God Bless the Child" doesn't really make it, just about everything else is marvelous. Half of the tracks feature a small group led by guitarist Barney Kessel while the other half - the more effective tracks, actually - feature now-exuberant, now-exquisite arrangements for big band by Johnny Mandel that make haunting use of muted brass at ballad tempos. This was O'Day's favorite among her Norgran/Verve albums.

Anita O'Day's debut recordings under her own name, not as a guest vocalist in big bands!
High energy performances by Anita O'Day, singing with strength, conviction, and intensity, backed by some good musicians doing vintage swing and big band-styled numbers.

This strange (and strangely compelling) album is the most controversial of all O'Day's Verve Records releases, popular among O'Day's hardcore fans for the showcase that the Three Sounds' near-minimalist accompaniment affords her singing. On a lot of levels, however, it wasn't a successful record. The album was a one-shot collaboration that happened in the narrowest possible window-of-opportunity. The Three Sounds, having left Blue Note, were passing through the Verve roster, where they would be active for about a week in October of 1962, cutting two albums in that time including this one with Anita O'Day, who was leaving the label after 10 years there. Anita O'Day & The Three Sounds is as much a Three Sounds record as it is an Anita O'Day recording - the group is represented by four instrumentals, including "Someday My Prince Will Come," "My Heart Stood Still," and "Blues By Five"…

One of Anita's strongest for Verve - featuring backing by a few different groups. One features Ralph Burns on piano and arrangments, leading a septet that includes Bill Harris, Cecil Payne, and Roy Eldridge - on the tracks "Rock N Roll Blues", "Love For Sale", "Lover Come Back To Me", and "Lullaby Of The Leaves". Next up is Roy Kral, playing piano and arranging a quintet that includes Earl Backus on guitar and Jim Wilson on bongos - on tracks that include "No Soap, No Hope Blues", "Strawberry Moon", and "Speak Low". The last four tracks feature arrangements by Larry Russell - and they include "Pagan Love Song" and "Somebody's Crying".

This album consists of eight songs Anita O'Day performed in Tokyo on January 12, 1964. This is a completely new discovery, different from the performance taped on December 30, 1963 for a TV broadcast. The latter recording was released on videotape and LP formats in 1985 by Polydor Records of Japan. The five additional tracks are from the American Stars of Jazz TV program hosted by Bobby Troup. The songs are taken from two sessions broadcast in 1956 and 1957.

Great small combo work from Anita O'Day - done at a time when the singer had maybe faded from the American limelight a bit, but continued to do some really exceptional work for a variety of smaller labels! In fact, we might even say that Anita during this stretch was even hipper than before - as even on some of her classic 50s albums, she maybe still had a bit of the hoke from the big band years - whereas the O'Day on this album is older, mature, and really wonderfully suited to bring the most out of the tunes - all familiar, but handled with spare backings that really let the lady remind us why jazz vocals, when done right, are such a wonderful art!

Few female singers matched the hard-swinging Anita O'Day for sheer exuberance and skill in all areas of jazz vocals: her splendid improvising, wide range, dynamic tone, and innate sense of rhythm made her one of the most enjoyable singer of the age. O'Day's first appearances in a big band shattered the traditional image of a demure female vocalist by swinging just as hard as the other musicians on the bandstand, best heard on her vocal trading with Roy Eldridge on the Gene Krupa recording "Let Me Off Uptown." After making her solo debut in the mid-'40s, she incorporated bop modernism into her vocals and recorded over a dozen of the best vocal LPs of the era for Verve during the 1950s and '60s. Though hampered during her peak period by heavy drinking and, later, drug addiction, she made a comeback and continued singing into the new millennium.

Anita O'Day recorded many rewarding albums in the 1950s when her voice was at its strongest, and this collaboration with the Oscar Peterson Quartet (comprised of pianist Peterson, guitarist Herb Ellis, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer John Poole) may very well be her best. Not only is the backup swinging, giving a Jazz at the Philharmonic feel to some of the songs, but O'Day proves that she could keep up with Peterson. "Them There Eyes" is taken successfully at a ridiculously fast tempo, yet the singer displays a great deal of warmth on such ballads as "We'll Be Together Again" and "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered." While Peterson and Ellis have some solos, O'Day is never overshadowed (which is saying a lot) and is clearly inspired by their presence. The very brief playing time (just 34 minutes) is unfortunate on this set, but the high quality definitely makes up for the lack of quantity. A gem.

Anita O'Day is heard in prime form on this early Verve date. Accompanied by an orchestra conducted and arranged by Buddy Bregman, O'Day is at the peak of her powers on such songs as "You're the Top," "Honeysuckle Rose," an emotional rendition of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square," and "As Long As I Live." One of her better recordings, this date is recommended.

From a label with no shortage of first-rate jazz material come this very attractive vocal sampler. Staying true to the Compact Jazz ethos, Best of the Jazz Vocalists favors quality over hits and comes with a budget price tag. The majority of songs are from the label's prime '50s and '60s run, including a cloud-bound "Summertime" by Helen Merrill and one of the all-time great versions of "If You Could See Me Now," compliments of Billy Eckstine. Continuing with this balancing act between the sexes, the collection also includes fine work by Bill Henderson, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Abbey Lincoln, Jon Hendricks, Shirley Horn, and Anita O'Day; latter-day entries include Lincoln's "I've Got Thunder and It Rings" from her 1990 Verve debut and Horn's "I Got Lost in His Arms" from 1988's Close Enough for Love. Nicely wrapped up with Nina Simone's Afro-percussion clarion call "Come Ye," this Verve roundup works as the perfect primer for more adventurous trips through the label's fertile stores of essential jazz.

For this studio set, Anita O'Day performs with the Lou Levy trio and guests Ernie Watts on reeds, percussionist Paulinho Da Costa and either Laurindo Almeida or Joe Diorio on guitar. She mostly sticks to fresher material, some of it of more recent vintage than usual. High points include "Lost in the Stars," "You're My Everything," "Them There Eyes," "Limehouse Blues" and several bossa nova pieces. This LP, although not essential, is worth picking up.

This album is definitely a transitional one for Anita O'Day. Four of the dozen performances are taken from June 1963. Her trio joins the singer on four of her "hits" ("Sweet Georgia Brown," "Boogie Blues," "Tea for Two" and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square"), which were O'Day's final recordings until 1970 due to personal problems. The remainder of this set is from 1975-76, with several trios backing O'Day on a repertoire dominated by swing standards. Although her voice was not as young, O'Day was still in good form at that point, making this album a worthwhile acquisition for her fans.