Anita O’Day Live In Tokyo ’63 (Kayo Stereophonic)
The singer equals the heights she reached in her 1958 triumph at the Newport Jazz Festival. In this television broadcast there is no audience cheering her on, as at Newport, but O’Day shows that she needs no crowd to generate energy and enthusiasm. She has the backing of her pianist and musical director Bob Corwin and a superb big band of Japanese musicians led by Takao Ishizuka playing Buddy Bregman arrangments. Among the 15 songs, she reprises two of her Newport hits, “Sweet Georgia Brown†and “Tea for Two.†On the latter she jams with three horn players in a riotous exchange of high-speed phrases. This remarkable DVD preserves O’Day’s musicianship, impeccable timing, stage presence and charisma.