Anita O'Day - First Lady Of Swing

Back in those days, most featured performers in the band business had a tag, a slogan, and Anita O'Day's first billing with the Stan Kenton orchestra was 'A Bombshell In Modern Music'! Fortunately, this was soon replaced by the far more appropriate 'First Lady Of Swing' which was appropriate because while most of the singers who worked with Kenton over the years were more or less 'unknowns' when they joined him, Anita was different. In 1943, after two years as featured vocalist with Gene Krupa's band, touring, broadcasting and making big hit records like "Let Me Off Uptown", Anita was one of the top band singers in the United States. Although Anita O'Day only had a brief sojourn with Stan Kenton, the resulting recordings are a revelation. After the trials and tribulations of working with Gene Krupa, and fresh from a solo tour, initially Anita was reluctant to join Kenton because of a different musical outlook and the strain of touring. In the event, it was a happy liaison although not very fruitful on the recordings front. Now, for the first time, this new Jasmine CD brings together all the available prime, and mainly rare, O'Day/Kenton material. Apart from any academic achievement, the result is a truly scintillating collection which any lover of great female vocals can enjoy. This is Anita O'Day at her energetic best, and with the addition of Stan Kenton what more is there to say?