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Anita O'Day

 
Dictionary: O'Day   (ō-dā') pronunciation, Anita
(Originally Anita Belle Colton.) 1919-2006.

American jazz singer. Noted for her scat singing, she rose to fame during the Big Band era of the 1940s.


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Artist: Anita O'Day
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  • Born: October 18, 1919, Chicago, IL
  • Died: November 23, 2006, Los Angeles, CA
  • Active: '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, 2000s
  • Genres: Vocal Music
  • Instrument: Vocals
  • Representative Albums: "Anita Sings the Most," "Verve Jazz Masters 49," "Pick Yourself Up with Anita O'Day"
  • Representative Songs: "Let Me Off Uptown," "And Her Tears Flowed Like Win," "Boogie Blues"

Biography

Few female singers matched the hard-swinging and equally hard-living Anita O'Day for sheer exuberance and talent in all areas of jazz vocals. Though three or four outshone her in pure quality of voice, her splendid improvising, wide dynamic tone, and innate sense of rhythm made her the most enjoyable singer of the age. O'Day's first appearances in a big band shattered the traditional image of a demure female vocalist by swinging just as hard as the other musicians on the bandstand, best heard on her vocal trading with Roy Eldridge on the Gene Krupa recording "Let Me Off Uptown." After making her solo debut in the mid-'40s, she incorporated bop modernism into her vocals and recorded over a dozen of the best vocal LPs of the era for Verve during the 1950s and '60s. Though hampered during her peak period by heavy drinking and later, drug addiction, she made a comeback and continued singing into the new millennium.

Born Anita Belle Colton in Chicago, she was raised largely by her mother, and entered her first marathon-dance contest while barely a teenager. She spent time on the road and occasionally back at home, later moving from dancing to singing at the contests. After bad experiences amid brief tenures with Benny Goodman and even Raymond Scott, O'Day earned a place in Gene Krupa's band in 1941. Several weeks later, Krupa also hired trumpeter Roy Eldridge, and the trio combined to become an effective force, displayed on hits like "Let Me Off Uptown," "Boogie Blues," and "Just a Little Bit South of North Carolina." She spent a brief period away from Krupa with Woody Herman, but returned to the band, only to have it break up by 1943. After moving to Stan Kenton, she starred on Kenton's first big hit, 1944's "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine." Another stint with Krupa presaged her solo debut in 1946, and with drummer John Poole as her accompanist, she recorded a moderate hit one year later with the novelty "Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip."

Her career really ignited after her first album, 1955's Anita (also known as This Is Anita). Much more successful in the jazz world than she was in its pop equivalent, she performed at jazz festivals and jazz-oriented concerts, appearing with figures including Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, and George Shearing. Her performance at 1958's Newport Jazz Festival made her fame worldwide after being released on a film titled Jazz on a Summer's Day.

O'Day's series of almost 20 Verve LPs during the '50s and '60s proved her to be one of the most distinctive, trend-setting, and successful vocal artists of the time, arguably surpassed only by Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. She worked with a variety of arrangers and in many different settings, including a hard-swinging Billy May collaboration (Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May), an excellent, intimate set with the Oscar Peterson Quartet (Anita Sings the Most), several with the mainstream Buddy Bregman Orchestra (Pick Yourself Up, Anita), one with the cool-toned Jimmy Giuffre (Cool Heat), and a Latin date with Cal Tjader (Time for Two) as well as a collaborative LP with the Blue Note instrumental trio the 3 Sounds. Even by the early '60s, however, her ebullient voice had begun sounding tired. The cumulative effects of heroin addiction, its resulting lifestyle, and a non-stop concert schedule forced her into a physical collapse by 1967.

After taking several years to kick alcohol and drug addictions, she made a comeback at the 1970 Berlin Jazz Festival and returned in the early '70s with a flood of live and studio albums, many recorded in Japan and some released on her own label, Emily Records. Her autobiography, 1983's High Times, Hard Times was typically honest and direct regarding her colorful past. Though her voice gradually deteriorated, O'Day recorded throughout the 1970s and '80s, remaining an exciting, forceful vocalist on record as well as in concert. She slowed down considerably during the '90s, and appeared only occasionally. She re-emerged in 2006 with a new album (Indestructible!), recorded during the previous two years, but passed away in November of that year due to the effects of pneumonia and advanced Alzheimer's disease. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
Discography: Anita O'Day
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Ultimate Anita O'Day

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Anita O'Day's Finest Hour

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This Is Hip

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Keep the Coffee Coming

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Essential O'Day: Basin Street West 1964

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Vol.4: 1944

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This Is Anita [Japan]

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Song Stylist in Swingland

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Live at Mingo's

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1941-1945

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From Swing to Bop

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All the Sad Young Men

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Cabu Collection

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Diva Series

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Cocktail Hour

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Portrait of a Jazz Singer

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Vol. 2: 1941-1942

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Complete Recordings, 1949-1950

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And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine [Proper]

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1950-1952

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Live in Tokyo '63

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My Ship

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There's Only One

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Let Me Off Uptown: The Best of Anita O'Day

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Live in Concert Tokyo 1976

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First Lady of Swing

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Anita O'Day [Giants of Jazz]

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Sings the Winners [Bonus Tracks]

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Anita Sings the Most

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Live at the City San Francisco 1979

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Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter/Rodgers & Hart

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Lady Is a Tramp

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1945-1950

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Live in Tokyo '63 [DVD]

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Sings the Winners/At Mister Kelly's

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Live at Ronnie Scott's

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At Mister Kelly's [Japan]

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You Betcha

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Let Me Off Uptown

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Let Me Off Uptown

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Key Largo

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1956-1962

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Vol. 1: 1941

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Anita Sings the Most [Japan]

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Big Band Years

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I Get a Kick Out of You

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Breakfast Show

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Indestructible!

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There's Only One [SRI]

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And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine [ASV/Living Era]

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Complete 1952 Verve Sessions

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Young Anita

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Gene Krupa Days

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Solo Sides

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Boogie Blues

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Complete Anita O'Day Clef/Verve Sessions

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Compact Jazz: Anita O'Day

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Rules of the Road

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Wave: Live at Ronnie Scott's

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Live in Person

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At Vine St. Live

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I Told Ya I Love Ya: Now Get Out

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In a Mellow Tone

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Song for You

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Angel Eyes

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Mello'day

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Anita O'Day Live

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Incomparable!

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Once Upon a Summertime

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Anita O'Day and the Three Sounds

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Time for Two

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Trav'lin' Light

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Waiter, Make Mine Blues

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Anita O'Day and Billy May Swing Rodgers and Hart

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Cool Heat

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Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May

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Anita O'Day Sings the Winners

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Pick Yourself Up with Anita O'Day

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This Is Anita

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Jazz 'Round Midnight: Anita O'Day

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Verve Jazz Masters 49

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Complete Signature & London Recordings

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Wikipedia: Anita O'Day
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Anita O'Day

Anita O'Day at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival
Background information
Birth name Anita Belle Colton
Also known as "The Jezebel of Jazz"
Born October 18, 1919(1919-10-18)
Origin Chicago, Illinois,
United States
Died November 23, 2006 (aged 87)
Los Angeles, California,
United States
Genres Vocal jazz
Occupations Singer
Years active 1934 – 2006
Labels Verve, Kayo Stereophonic
Website AnitaODay.com

Anita O'Day (October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006) was an American jazz singer. Jazz Critic Will Friedwald has said “When you think of the great jazz singers, I would think that Anita is the only white woman that belongs in the same breath as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan.”

Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer". Refusing to pander to any female stereotype, O'Day presented herself as a "hip" jazz musician, wearing a band jacket and skirt as opposed to an evening gown. She changed her surname from Colton to O'Day, pig Latin for "dough," slang for money.

O'Day, along with Mel Tormé, is often grouped with the West Coast cool school of jazz. Like Tormé, O'Day had some training in jazz drums (courtesy of her first husband Don Carter); her longest musical collaboration was with John Poole, a skilled jazz drummer whose career was severely curtailed by his heroin habit. While maintaining a central core of hard swing, O'Day's considerable skills in improvisation of rhythm and melody put her squarely among the pioneers of bebop; indeed, a staple of her live act in the 1950s was a smooth cover of "Four" by Miles Davis.

She cited Martha Raye as the primary influence on her vocal style, although she also expressed admiration for Mildred Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday.

O'Day always maintained that the accidental excision of her uvula during a childhood tonsillectomy left her incapable of vibrato, as well as unable to maintain long phrases. That botched operation, she claimed, forced her to develop a more percussive style based on short notes and rhythmic drive. However, when she was in good voice she demonstrated surprising skill at stretching long notes with strong crescendos and a telescoping vibrato, e.g. her stunning live version of "Sweet Georgia Brown" at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, captured in Bert Stern's film Jazz on a Summer's Day [1] . Noteworthy is that one can hear on her records that her prominent upper teeth sometimes lead to her articulation of the "B" and the "P" as a "W" (f.i. Sweet Georgia "Wrown").

O'Day's cool, backbeat-based singing style was strongly influential on many other female singers of the late swing and bebop eras, including June Christy, Chris Connor and even less jazz-oriented performers such as Doris Day.

O'Day's long-term problems with heroin and alcohol addiction and her often erratic behavior related to those problems earned her the nickname "The Jezebel of Jazz".

Contents

Early career

Born in a broken home in Chicago O'Day took the first chance to leave home when, at age 14, she became a contestant in the popular Walk-a-thons as a dancer. She toured with the Walk-a-thons circuits for two years, occasionally being called upon to sing. In 1934, she began touring the Midwest as a marathon dance contestant and singing "The Lady in Red" for tips.

In 1936, she left the endurance contests, determined to become a professional singer. She started out as a chorus girl in such Uptown venues as the Celebrity Club and the Vanity Fair, then found work as a singer and waitress at the Ball of Fire, the Vialago, and the Planet Mars. At the Vialago, O'Day met the drummer Don Carter, who introduced her to music theory and whom she married in 1937. Her first big break came in 1938 when Down Beat editor Carl Cons hired her to work at his new club at 222 North State Street, the Off-Beat, which quickly became a popular hangout for musicians. Also performing at the Off-Beat was the Max Miller Quartet, which backed O'Day for the first 10 days of her stay there.

While performing at the Off Beat, she met Gene Krupa, who promised to call her if Irene Daye, his current vocalist, left his band. In 1939 she was hired as vocalist for Miller's Quartet, which had a stay at the Three Deuces club in Chicago.

Work with Krupa, Herman, and Kenton

The call from Krupa finally came in early 1941. Of the 34 sides she recorded with Krupa, it was "Let Me Off Uptown", a novelty duet with Roy Eldridge, that became her first big hit. That year, Down Beat named O'Day "New Star of the Year". In 1942, she appeared with the Krupa band in two "soundies" (short musical films), singing "Thanks for the Boogie Ride" and "Let Me Off Uptown". The same year Down Beat readers voted her into the top five big band singers. O'Day came in fourth, with Helen O'Connell first, Helen Forrest second, Billie Holiday third, and Dinah Shore fifth. O'Day married again in 1942, this time to golf pro and jazz fan Carl Hoff.

When Krupa's band broke up after his possession of marijuana arrest in 1943, O'Day joined Woody Herman for a month-long gig at the Hollywood Palladium, followed by two weeks at the Orpheum. Unwilling to tour with another big band, she left Herman after the Orpheum engagement and finished out the year as a solo artist. Despite her initial misgivings about the compatibility of their musical styles, she let herself be persuaded to join Stan Kenton's band in April 1944. During her eleven months with Kenton, O'Day recorded 21 sides, both transcription and commercial, and appeared in a Universal Pictures short Artistry in Rhythm (1944). "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" became a huge seller and put Kenton's band on the map. She also appeared in one soundie with Kenton, performing "I'm Going Mad for a Pad" and "Tabby the Cat". O'Day later said, "My time with Stanley helped nurture and cultivate my innate sense of chord structure." In 1945 she rejoined Krupa's band and stayed almost a year. The reunion, unfortunately, yielded only ten sides. On two of these ("That Feeling in the Moonlight" and "Harriet") O'Day shared the mike with Buddy Stewart, an excellent bop-tinged singer whose promising career was cut short by an early death when he got out of his car to help a motorist in distress in 1950, and unfortunately was promptly run over. After leaving Krupa late in 1946, O'Day once again became a solo artist.

Post-war work and drug problems

During the late forties, she recorded two dozen sides, mostly for small labels. The quality of these singles varies: O'Day was trying to achieve popular success without sacrificing her identity as a jazz singer. Among the more notable recordings from this period are "Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip", "Key Largo", "How High the Moon", and "Malaguena". O'Day's drug problems began to surface late in 1947, when she and her husband Carl Hoff were arrested for possession of marijuana and sentenced to 90 days in jail. Her career was back on the upswing in September 1948, when she sang with Count Basie at the Royal Roost in New York City, resulting in five airchecks. What secured O'Day's place in the jazz pantheon, however, are the seventeen albums she recorded for Norman Granz's Norgran and Verve labels between 1952 and 1962.

Her first album, Anita O'Day Sings Jazz (reissued as The Lady Is a Tramp), was recorded in 1952 for the newly established Norgran Records (it was also the label's first LP). The album was a critical success and further boosted her popularity. In October 1952 O'Day was again arrested for possession of marijuana, but found not guilty. The following March, she was arrested for possession of heroin. The case dragged on for most of 1953; O'Day was finally sentenced to six months in jail. Not long after her release from jail on February 25, 1954, she began work on her second album, Songs by Anita O'Day (reissued as An Evening with Anita O'Day). She recorded steadily throughout the fifties, accompanied by small combos and big bands. In person, O'Day was generally backed by a trio which included the drummer with whom she would work for the next 40 years, John Poole.

As a live performer O'Day also began performing in festivals and concerts with such musicians as Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Dinah Washington, George Shearing, Cal Tjader, and Thelonious Monk. She appeared in the documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day, filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival which increased her popularity. She admitted later that she was "high on heroin during the concert, and she was unaware of being filmed."[1]

Anita O'Day in 2005

The following year O'Day made a cameo appearance in The Gene Krupa Story, singing "Memories of You". Late in 1959, she toured Europe with Benny Goodman. O'Day wrote in her 1981 autobiography that when Goodman's attempts to upstage her failed to diminish the audience's enthusiasm, he cut all but two of her numbers from the show.

After the Goodman fiasco, O'Day went back to touring as a solo artist. She recorded infrequently after the expiration of her Verve contract in 1962 and her career seemed over when she nearly died of a heroin overdose in 1968. After kicking the habit, she made a comeback at the 1970 Berlin Jazz Festival. She also appeared in the films Zig Zag (1970) and The Outfit (1974). She resumed making live and studio albums, many recorded in Japan, and several were released on her own label, Emily Records.

O'Day spoke candidly about her drug addiction in her 1981 memoir High Times, Hard Times.

In 2005, her version of the standard, Sing, Sing, Sing was remixed by RSL and was included in the compilation album Verve Remixed 3, and 2006 saw her first album release in 13 years, entitled Indestructible!.

One of her best late-career audio performances "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" which opens the film Shortbus (2006) by John Cameron Mitchell.

A feature length documentary Anita O'Day: The Life of A Jazz Singer directed by Robbie Cavolina and Ian McCrudden, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 30, 2007.[1][2]

Death

With her album Indestructible! released, and her new documentary already wrapped up for production, Anita O'Day was making a strong comeback. But in November 2006, Robbie Cavolina (manager) entered her into a West Hollywood, California convalescent hospital, while she recovered from pneumonia. Two days before her death, she had demanded to be released from the hospital. On Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2006, at age 87, O'Day died in her sleep. The official cause of death was deemed cardiac arrest.

Discography

Filmography

Documentary

References

  1. ^ a b Als, Hilton, Critic's Notebook: Voice of Choice, New Yorker, August 11-18, 2008, found at Notebook: Voice of Choice from the New Yorker official website. Accessed August 7, 2008.
  2. ^ See preview, at Youtube preview

External links


 
 

 

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