Anita O’Day Sings Arrangements By Jimmy Giuffre – Cool Heat (Japanese)

From the very first notes, this album whispers and shouts “coolness”. Music can’t be cooler than this. Anita O’day the coolest singer here sings over the sharp and minimalistic arrangements from Jimmy Giuffre another epitome of “California Cool Sounds”. It’s ethereal music, light, and velvet sounding but with a particular “ice” quality. I think that some can become a little edgy listening to this album because it is “empty” and neurotic at some point. Some may find that this music touches their nerves a little bit … and I can understand this. But for me here Anita sounds incredible with these very empty, “peculiar” arrangements. I find her association with Jimmy and the music they produced extremely elegant and beautiful. It’s like a modern art masterpiece. It’s something that wants to communicate something different. It’s not Caravaggio, it’s more Jackson Pollock. It is a strange beauty the one Anita and Jimmy produced with this music, this is clear. It’s like when you see a girl that it’s not totally beautiful but it is intriguing, you feel she has a strong personality and she catches you, even if her face is not the perfect beauty of a supermodel but has some peculiarities that forms her irresistible charm. The beauty Anita and Jimmy created here is a sharp and angular beauty that can disconcert a little. But I think that if you know Jimmy Giuffre’s ideas about music you can have a picture of the thing. Sum to Jimmy’s charts, the strange repertoire they chose and Anita which has a “strange”, not totally easy musical personality of her own and the picture is clear I guess. Some say Anita sings differently here. I don’t think so. She’s still her, totally herself, it is the backing that is different, it’s not Billy May, it’s Jimmy Giuffre so it’s the overall sound that is different for her other records. If you prefer a more traditional reassuring orchestra sound I suggest you buy the albums Anita recorded with Billy May (that are wonderful by the way). This is something different but I think it’s a unique album in the history of Jazz music, it has tons of personality and I think it’s a must-have for Anita fans (like myself).