By its very gentleness and supple, lyricism, this is a unique Anita O'Day album. Her singing is no less ardent or swinging than it customarily is; but for the first time in several years, practically a whole program has be- given over to me of the most attractive but increasingly less known elements of Anita's work - her capacity to concentrate her motion, to underplay, and to wing softly.
The most familiar image of Anita has been as one of the last of the irrepressibly hot jazz singers who scats with driving abandon and who can wing a tune with the dynamism of Roy Eldridge building a final chorus. In the past couple of years, there has been added the, show-biz Anita who as included several careful tailored novelties in her act; and who has devised a visual-aural effect in night clubs and jazz festivals that resembles a Harper's Bazaar girl who has been reading both Norman Mailer and vintage Dorothy Parker.
Only traces of either of these images are contained in this album. Anita here, for one thing, is entirely musical with almost no concessions to Bobby Shortism. The ballads are handled with uncommon musical taste-most notably, I think, Joe and Aileen Albany's You're A Clown, which has a wryly attractive melodic line. The scat singing re-emphasizes the fact that Anita is me of the few singers of either sex who is a master of 'hat tricky device without making it sound as if seat singing were simply a matter of juggling skill. Her scat work here is in thorough musical contex---for example, the airy verve of her treatment of Johnny Mandel's Hershey Bar, first made relatively renowned years ago by Stan Getz. The lyricism that relaxes her work in this album is not without occasional ii-y, as in Mack the Knife and My Heart Belongs to Daddy. Furthermore, no matter what the material and mood, Anita's celebrated beat is vividly alive in all the performances here,. I was especially beguiled by the easy in triptych swinging she accomplishes in It Had To Be You with its slow, romantic opening; medium, finger-snapping middle; and Indianapolis Speedway ending.
The choice of tunes is refreshingly surprising. In addition to Hershey Bar, You're A Clown and the, underdone My Heart Belongs to Daddy, there is an aptly light-hearted treatment of the ingenuous Orphan Annie, (I hope it someday occurs to a philanthropist if not a foundation to commission Lenny Bruce- to write a tune about Daddy Warbucks). Hooray for Hollywood has also become a rarity in recent years, except for Doris Day, It comes from the 1937 Hollywood Hotel with the. preprivate eye Dick Powell, Rosemary and Lola Lane (but ala~, no Priscilla), Hugh Herbert, and even Louella Parsons, the George Crater of Hollywood columnists.
Jimmy Giuffre's arrangements are effective by their unobtrusiveness. He has provided Anita with support that is neither overpowering nor anemic. He uses his instrumental resources judiciously to underline a phrase or simply to punctuate, What is, of course, most important is that the accompaniment does not get in her way and instead gives her a base that is dependable but also flexible.
I have no way of knowing whether this album-recorded in Hollywood in April, 1959-portends a general change of style in Anita's singing. In any case, however, it is a delightful addition to, the O'Day discography and will, I expect, bear up under many playings. Miss O'Day is cooking, as they say in the less esoteric trade journals, with less of a bravura display of flame here; but the temperature is just as high, and the results, I think, add up to me of the best recordings she has ever made.
-NAT HENTOFF
COOL HEAT
Anita O'Day Sings
Jimmy Giuffre Arrangements
POCJ-2650 MG V-8312