The hardworking staff has always had a thing for the great Anita O’Day. (She chose that stage name because it was pig Latin for “dough,” which is what she wanted to make.)
And lately we’ve been hitting Replay on her version (with Stan Getz on tenor) of Man with a Horn.
Of course, that leads us inexorably to her classic, extravagant hat performance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival (via – ! – RoundMidnightTV).
Granted, Anita could never displace any of the Big Four (Ella, Sarah, Billie, Dinah).
But to us, anyway, she’s definitely the Big Fifth.
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A WGBH radio commentary I did on O’Day back in the day.
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Cute. Sharp, but cute.
I read her autobiography a few weeks ago, a good scary read. If you can find a recording of her singing “Have you met Miss Jones” listen to how she finishes it.
There’s a good documentary out there too, Bob – saw it at the MFA awhile back. Just listened to Miss Jones – love those drop-off-a-cliff last notes from her.
The real sleeper in your story in the mention of the great Stan Getz, the smoothest horn man out there, with the same tragic drugs/drinking/early death story we all have heard so many times, too. His “star” seems to have faded in the jazz world, compared to the other great horns: Coltrane, Miles, etc. Not sure why.