Anita O’Day: Complete 1952 Verve Sessions

This Definitive edition gathers all of the recordings cut by Anita O’Day for Norman Granz’s Verve label in 1952. Four sessions are included, ranging from a New York January session featuring extraordinaire Roy Eldridge to a Capitol transcription registered alongside the Nat Cole Trio in Los Angeles, a Chicago date waxed another West Cost affair where Anita’s voice is paired against the Larry Russell orchestra. The variety in formats showcases the vocalist’s incomparable versatility at a peak moment in her career.

Tracks 1-4 with Roy Eldridge (tp), Bill Harris (tb), Budd Johnson (ts), Cecil Payne (bari), Ralph Burns (p, are), Al McKibbon (b), Don Lamond (d), New York City, January 22, 1952

Tracks 5-8 with Roy Kraal Quintet, Chicago, July 1952

Tracks 9-12 with Larry Russell’s Orchestra, Los Angeles, December 1952

Tracks 13-17 with Nat King Cole Trio, Capitol NKC transcriptions, Los Angeles, February 1945

Tracks 1 to 12 First released in 1955 on [r6325550]