Anita O'Day Gone Away

People were dropping like flies over Thanksgiving, including jazz swinger Anita O'Day. Her life is gonna make a terrific movie some day. Meanwhile, check out the DVD "Jazz On A Summer's Day." It's probably my favorite concert film of all time and O'Day is a definite highlight. She performs early in the day during the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, when people are still streaming in and the seats are more than half empty. But O'Day wakes them up with a slippery, stunning "Sweet Georgia Brown" followed by a frenetic "Tea For Two" that turns that ditty into a real showstopper. And then there's that hat! It doesn't get any cooler than her right there, doing her thing for the sheer pleasure of it.