Anita O'Day

Born Anita Belle Colton in Chicago, Illinois on October 18, 1919, O'Day got
her start as a teen. She eventually changed her name to O'Day and in the
late 1930's began singing in a jazz club called the Off- Beat, a popular
hangout for musicians like band leader and drummer Gene Krupa. In 1941 she
joined Krupa's band, and a few weeks later Krupa hired trumpeter Roy
Eldridge. O'Day and Eldridge had great chemistry on stage and their duet
"Let Me Off Uptown" became a million-dollar-seller, boosting the popularity
of the Krupa band. Also that year, "Down Beat" magazine named O'Day "New
Star of the Year" and, in 1942, she was selected as one of the top five big
band singers.

After her stint with, Krupa, O'Day joined Stan Kenton's band. She left the
band after a year and returned to Krupa. Singer Jackie Cain remembers the
first time she saw O'Day with the Krupa band. "I was really impressed," she
recalls, "She (O'Day) sang with a jazz feel, and that was kind of fresh and
new at the time." Later, O'Day joined Stan Kenton's band with whom she cut
an album that featured the hit tune "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine"

In the late'40s, O'Day struck out on her own. She teamed up with drummer
John Poole, with whom she played for the next 32 years. Her album "Anita",
which she recorded on producer Norman Granz's new Verve label, elevated her
career to new heights. She began performing in festivals and concerts with
such illustrious musicians as Louis Armstrong, Dinah Washington, Georg
Shearing and Thelonious Monk. O'Day also appeared in the documentary filmed
at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958 called "Jazz on a Summer Day", which
made her an international star.

Throughout the '60s Anita continued to tour and record while addicted to
heroin and in 1969 she nearly died from an overdose. O'Day eventually beat
her addiction and returned to work. In 1981 she published her autobiography
"High Times, Hard Times" which, among other things, talked candidly about
her drug addiction. In 2005 Anita returned to the studio at the age of 85 to
record "Indestructible!" CD containing numerous songs never recorded by
O'Day. She is truly a survivor and a true American Master.

More biographical information reprinted with permission from
http://www.npr.org