Anita O’Day Dies

  I  

Singer Anita O’Day died on Nov. 23 in Los Angeles as she was recovering from pneumonia. She was 87.

Born in Chicago as Anita Colton, she adopted her stage name before rising to prominence with the big bands of the 1940s. She had a hit with the Gene Krupa Orchestra, “Let Me Off Uptown,” which featured her in a duet with Roy Eldridge. O’Day later worked with Woody Herman and sang the famous “And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine” with Stan Kenton.

After recording pop albums for Verve, O’Day made a high-profile performance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, which was captured in the film, Jazz On A Summer’s Day .



  • John_and_Gerald_Clayton_by_Paul_Wellman_copy.jpg

    Gerald and John Clayton at the family home in Altadena during a photo shoot for the June 2022 cover of DownBeat. The house was lost during the Los Angeles fires.

  • Emily_Remler_-_Photo_by_Brian_McMillen_%284%29_copy_2.jpg

    “She said, ‘A lot of people are going to try and stop you,’” Sheryl Bailey recalls of the advice she received from jazz guitarist Emily Remler (1957–’90). “‘They’re going to say you slept with somebody, you’re a dyke, you’re this and that and the other. Don’t listen to them, and just keep playing.’”

  • Deerhead_Inn_courtesy_Poconogo.com_copy.jpg

    The Old Country: More From The Deer Head Inn arrives 30 years after ECM issued the Keith Jarret Trio live album At The Deer Head Inn.

  • Ted_Nash_Alexa_Tarantino_by_Gilberto_Tadday_copy.jpg

    As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.

  • Renee_Rosnes_lo-res.jpg

    “The first recording I owned with Brazilian music on it was Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer,” says Renee Rosnes. “And then I just started to go down the rabbit hole.”


On Sale Now
April 2025
Isaiah Collier
Look Inside
Subscribe
Print | Digital | iPad