Born in Chicago, Anita O’Day cut her musical teeth in the 1940’s playing with the Gene Krupa Band and the Stan Kenton Band during which time she had her first widespread successes with ‘And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine’ and ‘Tampico’ which allowed her to head out on her own as a single act.

What a combination for our first selection from 1959, Anita O’Day joining forces with top arranger Billy May to sing songs from one of the great American songbooks, "Anita O’Day Swings Cole Porter With Billy May". As Ms O’Day is quoted from the original liner notes….."Man, it’s a ball"…….and……. "jazz to me is singing what is happening now….and these songs have never sounded more of the moment". "At Mister Kelly’s" finds us in a live setting in Chicago in 1958 where we can witness Anita both swinging hard and catch her wry sense of humour as she tackles many little known and thus fresh new material. "Singin’ And Swingin’ with Anita O’Day" takes us back to 1947 to hear Anita’s first efforts as a soloist. As the original liner notes attest…."although they are early recordings they vibrate with a deep- throated husky voice which has become famous". Moving forward to 1961 for "Trav’lin Light" the original liner notes are full of the story of Anita’s comeback after a period of great personal trouble. As quoted….. "she rebounded in the late Fifties….she emerged as a different O’Day……her singing had changed……she reflected considerable discipline without sacrificing the inventiveness and warmth that were so much a part of her style". For our final selection, "All The Sad Young Men" we offer a 1961 Down Beat quote from the original liner notes that we feel pretty much sums up Anita’s jazz journey from young fire cracker to mature performer. "Her singing mellows and matures as the years pass. Today she remains one of the very few practitioners of the jazz art. And she makes it all sound so simple"