Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer (2007)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Directors:

Robbie Cavolina
Ian McCrudden

Writers:

Robbie Cavolina (writer)
Ian McCrudden (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Plot:

A tribute to jazz diva Anita O'Day, completed just weeks before her death in November 2006.

Plot Keywords:

Jazz | Broken Arm | Singing | Heroin | Singer

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Louis Armstrong	...	Himself (archive footage)
Buddy Bregman	...	Himself
Dick Cavett	...	Himself (archive footage)
Leonard Feather	...	Himself
Will Friedwald	...	Himself
Johnny Mandel	...	Himself
Anita O'Day	...	Herself
John Poole	...	Himself (archive footage)
Annie Ross	...	Herself
George Wein	...	Himself
Margaret Whiting	...	Herself
Gerald Wilson	...	Himself

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

AOD Productions

Trivia:

First-ever feature documentary on the life of legendary jazz vocalist Anita O'Day.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In one of the interview clips, Anita O'Day says that composer-arranger Gary McFarland died soon after the release of the album they made together, "All the Sad Young Men." McFarland actually lived another 10 years after the 1961 release of his record with O'Day, and died on November 2, 1971.

Movie Connections:

Features Jazz on a Summer's Day (1960)

A Love Letter To Jazz

Anita O'Day may not be as well known a Jazz singer as,oh say...Ella Fitzgerald,or even Sarah Vaughn, but over a period of sixty-odd years, she certainly made a name for herself,none the less. She started out as a singer with drummer/composer/band leader, Gene Krupa,moving on to a brief stint with Stan Kenton, and releasing a healthy legacy of recordings for Jazz legend Norman Grantz's Verve label,before entering a 15 year love affair with Heroin. This very well produced documentary features all of these facts & more. For it's relatively short running time (only about 90 minutes),it packs a treasure trove of film clips of performances (including the now legendary footage of O'Day singing 'Sweet Georgia Brown',at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival),and in some examples,complete performances,and not just excerpts of songs, plus film & video footage of interviews of O'Day,from some rare early television kine scopes,to just prior to her death in 2006, as well as others. Although the film does make brief mention of her short lived marriages,it doesn't really go much into her private life (she regarded her private life as just that,so we don't get a whole lot about it). If you consider yourself a lover of Jazz,you owe it to yourself to seek this film out. No MPAA rating here (as it's being distributed as an art film),but does contain a few rude words & references to O'Day's rampant drug problems, but is basically okay for teens,and even pre-teens with an interest in Jazz.