Customer Reviews

Sings the Winners

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The "Winners" of the title refers to the poll-winning bandleaders and composers associated with the songs she chose to cover here. Many of the songs are best known as instrumentals, so it's a fresh experience to hear Anita tackle the tunes vocally. Where lyrics are in short supply, she toys with the melody in her scat phrases. So even with the sketchiest parts to sing, she will hold your interest because, as always, Anita can play with the form of a tune as well as any man with a horn.

Try "Four Brothers" and "Frenesi" to hear her give-and-take with the band.

The 12 tracks from the original LP were recorded in April 1958; the first half of the program arranged by Marty Paich, the second half by Russ Garcia. The seven bonus tracks are from various sessions done between 1956-63.

Anita O'Day, whose singing career began in the big band era, was in the prime of her life when she recorded this LP for Verve in 1958. Amazingly, "Winners" was cut in only two days of that year, April 2 & 3, with Russ Garcia and His Orchestra on the first day (tracks 7-12), and the band of Marty Paich on the second (tracks 1-6). This CD has so many great cuts, it could have been called "The Very Best of Anita." "Take the A Train," "Peanut Vendor" and "Frenesi" are especially good. This is, without question, one of the best female vocalist recordings out there. Unfortunately, the six bonus tracks detract from the CD. But, that complaint aside, "Winners" easily rates 5 stars in my book.

This is the CD I live by. My greatest influence as a jazz singer is Anita O'Day and this is THE album to have. She scats like an instrumentalist of the highest degree and her phrasing is impeccable!! If you don't have one of her CD's yet, this is the one to purchase!

This is one of the greatest albums done by any female jazz vocalist. Every track is superb but what Anita does with "Body and Soul" is nothing short of amazing. Her "Early Autumn" is purely gorgeous. She's in excellent voice, inventive, surprising, versatile (she's such a good uptempo singer people forget she does ballads beautifully with tenderness but none of the histrionics lady singers tend to love) and the accompaniments are first rate. The bonus tracks are from some of her finest recordings. This is what great jazz singing is all about and the production values, as with all of O'Day's Verve issues, are first-rate. I always loved this cover, too, but the Japanese cover is more glamorous.

Anita O'Day is perhaphs one of the greatest jazz singers to emerge grom the cool 50's bebop era, always an improviser, this CD reissue of the original lp is wonderful, and highly recommended to any serious jazz collector. all of miss o'day's verves are worth picking up.

I didn't discover this talented musician (Anita O'Day) until about a week or two before her unfortunate death at age 87. Her unique sound (I think which reminisces at times Judy Garland territory, but that's just a personal opinion), uncanny scatting abilities and amazing sense of swing engaged me enough to dig into her long musical legacy--and, since I adored her take on Miles Davis' "Four" after hearing it, I knew this was the CD to start out with (since it features "Four" as the, of course, fourth track), and it is indeed great. This re-release features the original set list from the first printing of Anita O'Day Sings the Winners and much more. "Four" happens to be my favorite song here and O'Day gives a tremendous performance with some brilliantly written lyrics (see album insert for details), but that's because it's the first song I heard from O'Day (and my favorite to date) and therefore I'm biased...but opener "Take the 'A' Train" (a classic), the amazing "Interlude (A Night in Tunisia)" (another favorite) and the scatwonderful "Four Brothers" make for perfect listens; "Frenesi," "Body and Soul," "Stompin' at the Savoy" and "Hershey Bar" are all wonderful as well. Songs like the Latin-influenced "Peanut Vendor" and standards like jazz favorite "My Funny Valentine" are only improved upon by O'Day's wonderfully brash, but confident, vocal delivery. Though she may no longer be here, her music lives on to this day...and Anita O'Day Sings the Winners is definitely an album to purchase for ANY music listener!

I liked the selections and the renditions. The remastering was well done with the equalization set to emphasize the mid and upper mid ranges resulting in exceptional presence. A must for all Anita fans.

What a voice. I saw her the first time on the documentary channel and her voice grabbed me then. Glad I bought this album, I really love it. Highly recommended.

If you're looking to discover one of the best jazz vocalists of the 20th century, then you needn't look any further than listening to an anita o'day cd and this one ticks all the boxes. She has a great voice, rhythm was always the key to her performances, she played with the great gene krupa and always placed emphasis on her relationship with her drummer. You get great versions of tenderly, sing sing sing and four brothers. Well worth a listen, got to spread the word about this superb songstress.

Enjoyed hearing old favorites in can you imagine English language whose words are understandable. Love the Cole Porter & memories of O'Day at College Inn of Chicago's Sherman Hotel!