Anita O'Day

While Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra took pains to keep a song's lyric connected to its music, Anita O'Day often sacrificed narrative for jazz passion. That said, this torch song collection shows that O'Day could weave a dark, film noir web as well as almost anybody (at least half the time, anyway -- O'Day just can't help throwing away the script on tracks like "The Thrill is Gone"). Directing the proceedings is the neglected West Coast arranger Russ Garcia, who places his leading lady in subtle big band, small group and orchestral contexts.