Anita O'Day: Live In Tokyo 1963

Unreleased for more than 40 years, Live In Tokyo is the soundtrack to a live television performance Anita O’Day gave in Japan on December 30, 1963. She was backed by a full Japanese Orchestra (conducted by Toshiyuki Miyama), with additional guidance from Bob Corwin at the piano. At this time, O’Day was on the verge of a break with her longtime label Verve, and by her own admission, her private life was getting totally out of hand. Nonetheless, this concert proves that the stage was her refuge, the one place in which she could still find total freedom and happiness. The swing craze had been dead for decades, long since replaced by the bold explorations of John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, but Anita makes the big band cutting edge again on “Avalon,” “Tea for Two,” “Love for Sale” and “Four Brothers.” Ornette and Coltrane were searching for new modes of expression, but Anita’s soaring vocals represent an equal, if slightly more traditional, sense of freedom. Even in a strange theater in a distant country, Anita sings “Trav’lin’ Light” or “Sweet Georgia Brown” and the surroundings instantly morph into a smoky city gin joint.