Renowned Jazz Singer Anita O'Day Dies

Anita O'Day, whose sassy renditions of "Honeysuckle Rose," "Sweet Georgia Brown" and other song standards that made her one of the most respected jazz vocalists of the 1940s and '50s, has died. She was 87.

O'Day died in her sleep early Thursday morning at a convalescent hospital in Los Angeles where she was recovering from a bout with pneumonia, said her manager Robbie Cavolina. "On Tuesday night, she said to me, get me out of here," Cavolina said. "But it didn't happen."

Once known as the "Jezebel of Jazz" for her reckless, drug-induced lifestyle, O'Day lived to sing and she did so from her teen years until this year when she released "Indestructible!"

"All I ever wanted to do is perform," she said in a June 1999 interview with The Associated Press. "When I'm singing, I'm happy. I'm doing what I can do and this is my contribution to life."

Cavolina recently completed a feature film about O'Day and accompanied her to shows and on tours. "She got to see how many people really loved her at the shows we did, in New York, in London," Cavolina said. "She had come back after all of this time. She really lived a very full and exciting life."

O'Day was born in Chicago, Ill. She left home at age 12 and often bragged about being "self-made" and never having a singing lesson.

She began her career in her teens and later recorded hits with Stan Kenton and Gene Krupa. Her highly stylized performance of songs like "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine," "Let Me Off Uptown," "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Sweet Georgia Brown" made her famous the world over.

You have played with some of the best in the trade. I've really liked Billy Taylor's style.

I also checked out David Murray on-line and heard numerous portions of cuts, all were well done.

On this very well done David Sanchez LP (Coral) he is focuses on the music of Brazil and Argentina, In addition to his own band, the City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra makes this a smooth & lush sounding album. This one is on the must get list. I'll be checking out his other works.

Eric Alexander I was already aware of although I don't have any of his LP's.

You mentioned Sonny Rollins & Dexter Gordon, both masters.

In terms of today's smooth or urban jazz some of those I like would be Norman Brown, Rick Braun, Bobby Lyle, Euge Groove, Kim Walters, Anita Baker, Walter Beasley, Chuck Loeb, Peter White, Paul Taylor, Steve Cole, Paul Hardcastle, Boney James, Doc Powell, George Benson, Jonathan Butler, Bobby Caldwell plus many more.

Older stuff would be of course Miss Ella, Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennet, Mel Tormé, Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, Grover Washington, Jr,Count Basie, Glenn Miller, George Shearing, Stan Getz, Art Pepper, Bobby Hutcherson, Jimmy Smith, Coleman Hawkins, Wes Montgomery, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Julie London, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, etc, etc.

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