Anita O'Day on one of her great self-released albums – working here with some cool duos and trios – including work from the great Stan Tracey on piano, plus Kirk Lightsey on two tracks too! Titles include "Girl From Ipanema", "Once Upon A Summertime", "Tea For Two", "Love For Sale", "Night & Day", and "Boogie Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Buddy Bregman's doing the arrangements on this one – and he brings a great jazzy flair to the backings, helping Anita O'Day open up in her most dynamic mode! The whole set swings nicely, but without any sort of hoke – and Bregman manages to highlight specific instruments in the arrangements in different ways on each tune – creating a nice sense of variety that really keeps things fresh. Titles are mostly familiar numbers, but the match of Bregman and O'Day is more than enough to make them come alive anew – and tunes include "Man With A Horn", "Let's Begin", "I Never Had A Chance", "Stars Fell On Alabama", "Don't Be That Way", and "I Won't Dance". The CD's been hugely expanded from the original album – to include a total of 21 tracks in all, some with a smaller sextet, including a few previously unissued tracks! Titles include "Rock N Roll Waltz", "We Laughed At Love", "Your Picture's Hanging Crooked On The Wall", "I'm Not Lonely", and "The Getaway & The Chase". CD

Two unusual vocal sessions from Anita O'Day – each with a different jazz star in tow! Anita O'Day & The Three Sounds brings together a great singer and a great trio – a unique Verve outing that has vocalist Anita O'Day joining forces with the Three Sounds combo of pianist Gene Harris! The Three Sounds were always happy to serve as a rhythm combo on dates like this – and they really bring a lot of their own flavor to the record – standing out on a few instrumental selections that highlight their own brief relationship with Verve – but mostly backing Anita with a groove that's tight and always soulful! O'Day's vocals are as confident as Harris' work on the keys – making for a very nice match – and titles include "Fly Me To The Moon", "All Too Soon", "My Ship", and "Whisper Not", which also features a guest solo by Roy Eldridge. Time For Two is a great little meeting of two of the better talents on Verve Records in the early 60s – one that pairs the warm vocals of Anita O'Day with the cool vibes of Cal Tjader – in a sweet little session that's actually one of O'Day's best from the time! The feel here is lively, and slightly Latinesque – as Cal's smal combo features Johnny Rae on drums, and Lonnie Hewitt on piano – both players who are well-tuned towards a more rhythmic approach. Includes a great version of "An Occasional Man", plus the tracks "Mr. Sandman", "I Believe In You", "Peel Me A Grape", and a nice take of "Thanks For The Memory". CD

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One of the strongest of Anita's mid 50s outings for Verve – a tightly-crafted set that benefits from some good arrangements from Buddy Bregman! The format is perfect for Anita – giving her little space to have to make decisions, and letting her concentrate on the tone and charm that were always her strongest suit at this point. Soloists include Paul Smith on piano and Barney Kessel on guitar – and titles include "Who Cares", "You're The Top", "Fine & Dandy", "Beautiful Love", "Time After Time", and "No Moon At All". LP, Vinyl record album

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One of Anita's strongest for Verve – featuring backing by a few different groups. One features Ralph Burns on piano and arrangments, leading a septet that includes Bill Harris, Cecil Payne, and Roy Eldridge – on the tracks "Rock N Roll Blues", "Love For Sale", "Lover Come Back To Me", and "Lullaby Of The Leaves". Next up is Roy Kral, playing piano and arranging a quintet that includes Earl Backus on guitar and Jim Wilson on bongos – on tracks that include "No Soap, No Hope Blues", "Strawberry Moon", and "Speak Low". The last four tracks feature arrangements by Larry Russell – and they include "Pagan Love Song" and "Somebody's Crying". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little meeting of two of the better talents on Verve Records in the early 60s – one that pairs the warm vocals of Anita O'Day with the cool vibes of Cal Tjader – in a sweet little session that's actually one of O'Day's best from the time! The feel here is lively, and slightly Latinesque – as Cal's smal combo features Johnny Rae on drums, and Lonnie Hewitt on piano – both players who are well-tuned towards a more rhythmic approach. Includes a great version of "An Occasional Man", plus the tracks "Mr. Sandman", "I Believe In You", "Peel Me A Grape", and a nice take of "Thanks For The Memory". LP, Vinyl record album

A really great later album from Anita – one recorded live in Berlin, with some backing by the George Arvanitas trio – at the time when they had the kick-ass rhythm section of Jacky Samson on bass and Charles Saudrais on drums. Anita's in a much more swinging groove than usual – opening up in an MPS-like setting that's quite different from her Verve albums. The highlight of the record is a nice funky version of "Sunny", which starts with a great drum bit at the beginning – and other tracks include "Soon It's Gonna Rain", "Your Wings", "On A Clear Day", and a medley of "Yesterday" and "Yesterdays". LP, Vinyl record album