Pick Yourself Up (Expanded Edition)

Anita O’Day once again proves herself all too multifaceted on this 1956 album, casually mastering enough divergent modes to make most other jazz singers green with envy. She brings a torchy throatiness to Irving Berlin’s vibraphone-kissed ballad of romantic awakening, “I Used to Be Color Blind”, while her bluesy drawl establishes an unshakeable gravity on the daringly stripped-back “Sweet Georgia Brown”. But then she’s back to swinging, winking pep for “Stompin’ at the Savoy”, a horn-guided showcase of her breezy yet flavoursome phrasing.