Anita O’Day: Sings For Oscar (WaxTime 771664)
The ultra-hip, husky-voiced Anita O’Day was one of our music’s most original song-stylists. Her rich timbre (totally free of vibrato) had the harmonic and rhythmic freedom of a superior jazz instrumentalist. The 11 titles here have been frequently recorded over the years but she makes this familiar material totally hers. Within a bar or two it is immediately obvious who is performing on this vinyl reissue. She responds to the warm embrace of the Oscar Peterson trio as if they were old colleagues, although this 1957 date is the only time they recorded together. A list of the artists that Peterson has accompanied during a stellar career would obviously take most of the space available for this review.
The opening medley is an absolute tour-de-force. She showcases a gentle stroll through They Can’t Take That Away From Me by book-ending it with S’Wonderful, which storms along at 90 bpm. She delighted in the fastest of tempos, as she demonstrates again on Love Me Or Leave Me and Them There Eyes, the latter notable for one of her most inventive scat routines. Her definitive ballad readings of Tenderly, We’ll Be Together Again, Stella By Starlight and Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered are also album highlights. Performances like these are probably what influenced contemporaries like June Christy, Chris Connor and Carol Sloane. The latter once said she was “in awe of Anita O’Day”.
Ms O’Day felt this album was one of her finest and DownBeat awarded it five stars. In 2008 Lonehill Jazz reissued it together with her 1956 Pick Yourself Up recording which included her celebrated Sweet Georgia Brown routine (LHJ10320). She repeated these Georgia Brown variations for the celebrated 1959 Jazz On A Summer’s Day film. Her unforgettable performance, in a slinky black dress complete with an enormous hat, can be enjoyed on YouTube.
Miles Davis: Miles – The New Miles Davis Quintet (WaxTime 772371)
This 1955 recording took place just as Miles Davis was about to leave Prestige for the more prestigious Columbia label. It was an important year for him because he had just come top in DownBeat’s trumpet poll for the first time. He had also made a critically acclaimed appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival with Zoot Sims, Gerry Mulligan, Thelonious Monk, Percy Heath and Connie Kay which is preserved on Miscellaneous Davis 1955-1957 (Jazz Unlimited JUCD2050). George Avakian (Columbia’s A & R man) was so impressed at the concert that he immediately offered Miles a recording contract. This allowed him to form his first regular working group with Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones. He also wanted his friend Sonny Rollins. They had recorded together in 1954 but he was unavailable so the group recommended the little known John Coltrane. The rest, as they say, is history.
Just Squeeze Me, There Is No Greater Love, How Am I To Know? and S’Posin’ have Miles stating the themes alone then soloing using a harmon which became his signature sound on ballads. In other words, the quintet is essentially a quartet on these selections with guest solo contributions from Coltrane, who does not play on There Is No Greater Love at all. There is much of Red Garland’s locked-hands piano to enjoy on these titles. Stablemates, which was written by Coltrane’s friend Benny Golson, is premiered here with the horns together in unison. Miles’s glorious open sound is on display. This was prior to Coltrane’s later “sheets-of-sound” period so his approach actually recalls Dexter Gordon here. The Theme, based on our old friend I Got Rhythm, was used by the quintet as an end-of-set in the clubs. It was also used as a sign-off by the Jazz Messengers.
Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra: Golden Lady (Bespoke Jazz WL2514)
The Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra was formed in 2012 “to perform the best music with the best musicians”. Over the years their albums – Invitation (2017), Overjoyed (2020) and Compared To What (2023) – have certainly lived up to that lofty ambition. The personnel may be unfamiliar but many have served time in the trenches with The Mingus Big Band, Woody Herman, Nelson Riddle, Quincy Jones, Glenn Miller, Blood Sweat & Tears, Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie etc. With those CVs the ensemble performances and solo contributions here can only be par excellence.
Their latest release is best described as genre-defying, with gospel overtones, heavy R&B roots and explosive big-band orchestrations. Tenor-man Bob Reynolds, who has been with Snarky Puppy since 2014, lays a dramatic gauntlet down from bar one on his own Hold Tight. He is centre-stage throughout five minutes of creative blowing recalling Tom Scott and also Chris Potter who is an acknowledged influence. I almost gave him a standing ovation each time I listened to this track, which also benefits from some amazing ensemble work from the 19-piece orchestra.
The title track Golden Lady is a feature for Tatiana LadyMay Mayfield. Interacting with a three-piece choir she creates a church-like feel on this Stevie Wonder original. She revisits the lovely 1964 Dionne Warwick hit You’ll Never Get To Heaven If You Break My Heart where she confidently holds her own in some scat exchanges with Drew Zaremba on tenor. Red Cedar Road has some impressive contributions from Jonathan Powell (trumpet) and Jared Cathey (tenor) during an extended ensemble ostinato.
