Anita O'Day: Bolero At the Savoy-Quadromania Jazz Edition

Read About This Recording

One of the top jazz singers of the 1940s and '50s, Anita O'Day had an unusual career. Born in 1919 as Anita Colton (she later switched her last name to O'Day since it was pig latin for dough), she spent her teenage years as a marathon dancer. She gradually switched to becoming a singer despite not being able to hold long notes, and her big break was joining the Gene Krupa Orchestra in 1941. With Krupa, she had a big hit with Let Me Off Uptown and she became the band's star attraction.

After the Krupa band broke up in 1943, O'Day spent a year with Stan Kenton's big band, having a best-seller with And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine. She returned to Krupa, waxing Opus #1 and Boogie Blues before launching her solo career. O'Day became one of the few Swing Era singers to adapt easily to bebop and, throughout the 1950s, she avoided commercialism and stuck to the swinging jazz that she loved. Battles with heroin addiction plagued her life and she almost died in the mid-1960s before kicking drugs altogether and making a strong comeback in the 1970s. Her singing declined quickly in the 1980s due to advancing age and alcoholism, but she had already made her mark on jazz.

Bolero At The Savoy is a four-CD set imported from Europe that has highlights from her career, emphasizing the 1940s (including her hits) and '50s. Whether it be Let Me Off Uptown, Massachusetts, the crazy Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip or even Tennessee Waltz, Anita O'Day is heard throughout at the peak of her powers, making this a highly recommended retrospective of her career.

-Scott Yanow

Contents

Imported from Europe!

Remastered!

CD 1 (TT: 54:39): Deep in the Blues; Georgia on My Mind; Just a Little Bit South of North Carolina; Slow Down; Let Me Off Uptown; Green Eyes; Kick It; Stop, the Red Light's On; The Walls Keep Talking; How Do; Coppin' a New Plea; Bolero At the Savoy; Harlem on Parade; That's What You Think; Barrelhouse Bessie From Basin Street; Deliver Me to Tennessee; Massachusetts; Murder He Says.

CD 2 (TT: 50:55): I'm Going Mad for a Pad; And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine; Gotta Be Gettin'; Are You Livin' Old Man; Travelin' Man; I Want a Grown-up Man; Them There Eyes; Memories of You; How Come; I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me; Boogie Blues; Opus 1; Chickery Chick; Tea for Two; Sometimes I'm Happy; Ace in the Hole; What is This Thing Called Love; Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip.

CD 3 (TT: 51:12): It's Different When it Happens to You; Malaguena; I Told Ya I Love You, Now Get Out; How High the Moon; I Ain't Gettin' Any Younger; Key Largo; Jamaica Moon; Don't Kick it Around; So Much of Nothing to Do; Poor Simple Simon; Blues for Bojangles; Your Eyes Are Bigger Than Your Heart; Tennessee Waltz; Yeah Boo; Something I Dreamed Last Night; If I Could Steal You From Somebody Else; You Took Advantage of Me; Once There Lived a Fool.

CD 4 (TT: 52:00): I Apologize; Black Moonlight; Lovesick Blues; Lover, Come Back to Me; Lullaby of the Leaves; Rock and Roll Blues; Love for Sale; No Soap, No Hope Blues; Speak Low; The Lady is a Tramp; Strawberry Moon; Pagan Love Song; Ain't This a Wonderful Day; Somebody's Cryin'; Vaya Con Dios; Just One of Those Things; From This Moment On; You're the Top.

Anita O'Day, Irene Day, Howard Dulany, Vocals; Roy Eldridge, Trumpet/Vocals; Norman Murphy, Torg Halten, Graham Young, Mickey Mangano, Al Beck, Charlie Griffith, Larry Neal, Jimmy Maxwell, Chris Griffin, Red Solomon, Carl Poole, Ray Linn, John Caroll, Art Depew, Doc Severinsen, Charlie Shavers, Jack Hanson, Al Stewart, Andy Secrest, Trumpets; John Grassi, Jay Kelliher, Babe Wagner, Joe Conigliaro, Jimmy Kyles, Will Bradley, Phil Giardina, Billy Pritchard, Al Philburn, Ray Sims, George Arus, Cutty Cutshall, Bill Harris, Milt Bernhart, Lloyd Elliot, Si Zetner, Joe Howard, Trombones; Benny Carter, Musky Ruffo, Benny Feman, Heinie Beau, Manny Gershman, Alvy West, Toots Mondello, Al Klink, Hymie Schertzer, Alto Saxes; Sam Musiker, Benny Lagasse, Alto Saxes/Clarinets; Waler Bates, Jimmy Migliore, Don Brassfield, Herbie Haymer, Art Drellinger, Hank Ross, Bob Dukoff, Boyd Roland, Babe Fresk, Boomie Richman, Budd Johnson, Tenor Saxes; Harry Suchman, Hank Freeman, Sol Schlinger, Artie Baker, Cecil Payne, Baritone Saxes; Sam Listengrad, Ed Mihelich, Phil Stephens, Art Shapiro, Bob Haggart, Mel Schmidt, Bob Carter, Johnny Frigo, Leroy Vinnegar, Basses; Stan Kenton, Milt Raskin, Stan Greeman, Ralph Burns, Hymnie Fiddleman, Paul Jordan, Teddy Wilson, Jack Piles, Roy Kral, Jimmy Rowles, Paul Smith, Pianos; Ray Biondi, Dave Barbour, Tony Rizzi, Danny Perri, George Barnes, Bill Mure, Al Valiente, Earl Backhus, Tal Farlow, Barney Kessel, Guitars; Jimmy Wilson, Banjo; Gene Krupa, Zutty Singleton, Milt Holland, Morey Feld, Don Lamond, Abbey Brown, Frank Rullo, Buzzy Drootin, Johnny Blowers, Red Lionberg, Larry Bunker, Alvin Stoller, Drums; Gudina, Accordion; Gene Krupa Band; Gene Krupa Orchestra; Stan Kenton Orchestra; Abbey Brown's Cool Cats; Paul Jordan Orchestra; Buddy Bregman Orchestra.