Jazz 'Round Midnight

Anita O’Day rates as one of jazz’s strongest, must supple improvisational voices, a singer who attacks melodies with the gusto of an instrumentalist. Propelled by the lush, explosive arrangements of Billy May, she fearlessly bends and stretches the phrases of some of Cole Porter’s most enduring themes. She slaloms through the high-octane “Just One of Those Things” like an Alpine skier, imbues the melodic curves of “Love for Sale” with aspirated silkiness, and imparts an elegant insouciance on the comparatively tame “Night and Day”.