2007, USA
Documentary, Drama, Music
Billie, Ella, Sarah...Anita? Long the unsung jazz musician and magician, Anita O'Day is awarded her spot amongst the great vocalists in Robbie Cavolina and Ian McCrudden's documentary, Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer.
Though her name may not roll off of the tongue of the casual jazz appreciator, those in the know are well aware of O'Day's phenomenal talents. She bent the rules of bebop and used meter as her weapon, stunning audiences with her speed and fluidity. How she slipped from high profile radar is anybody's guess.
With her toothy smile and expressive eyes, O'Day seduced with a husky voice and unequivocal faculties. Not only could she deconstruct a song into a rhythm with which only the best band could keep pace, but she portrayed the story behind the lyrics with a unique interpretation. Never phoning in a standard for which she was known, the film demonstrates her skill for improv by playing clips of O'Day singing "Let's Fall in Love" over many performances and decades -- never the same performance twice.
The drama on stage was matched by a life of unfortunate choices, from failed marriages to a successful relationship with heroin. Though friends acknowledge her explicit drug problem and she reflects on those who overdosed -- including herself -- she throws off all experiences, good or bad, as the course of life. Never missing a beat, she smiles through all interviews and prepares for the next performance.
The filmmakers fashion the documentary like a series of 60s jazz album covers -- tinted screens weave in and out as each interviewee is allowed a solo in the gig with star attention. Perhaps not as probing as films that focus on one significant era, Anita O'Day finds cohesion in its appreciation of the vocalist's consistent abilities. No matter whether she was playing up a performance with a with a black trumpeter to a pop crowd in the 1940s, throwing a host for a loop by pulling a trio out of a prepared band on live TV and diving into mad improv, or thumbing her nose at a Sunday afternoon spot in the Newport Jazz Festival by dressing for tea but playing for the nightclub, O'Day could always mesmerize.
Anita O'Day pays admirable homage to a woman who squeezed every last drop out of life and devoted herself to tasting each bittersweet sip. Leading a life as wildly improvised as her performances, O'Day continues to captivate.