Incomparable! is a studio album by American singer, Anita O'Day. It was released in 1964 by Verve Records and was the fifteenth studio project of her career. It contained a total of 12 songs that featured swing and jazz arrangements by Bill Holman such as "Old Devil Moon" and "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue". It was met with positive critical reception from publications like DownBeat and Negro Digest, along with nonfiction authors. It has been re-released several times on different formats since its original distribution.
Anita O'Day first gained notoriety as a featured vocalist in big bands by Gene Krupa and Stan Kenton. Her vocals were featured on 1940s hits like "Boogie Blues", "Let Me Off Uptown" and "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine". She then became known in the jazz community for her a series of albums made for the Verve label during the 1950s and 1960s.[3]Incomparable! was among the albums O'Day recorded for Verve during the 1960s. The project was cut in sessions held at the Radio Recorders studio in Hollywood, California between August 16, August 18, and August 23, 1960. Arrangements were crafted by Bill Holman,[4] "a big band orchestrator" according to jazz biographer, Walt Friedwald.[2] The project consisted of 12 tracks,[5] featuring a mix of swing numbers and ballads. Among its ballads was "The Party's Over", a song first featured in the Broadway production, Bells Are Ringing.[2] Other songs include Richard Rodgers's "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue", along with pop covers of "Old Devil Moon", "Speak Low" and "Why Shouldn't I?".[5]
Incomparable! received positive reviews from critics and music publications following its original release. DownBeat rated it at four and a half stars, finding that despite there being "no really wild moments of jazz excitement", there was many songs that featured sophisticated arrangements and performances.[6] Walt Friedwald in his book A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers called it a project of "high octane swingers, delivered with bop era voicings".[2]Negro Digest found that "O'Day has seldom sounded in better voice than on this album." The publication found that "Easy Living" sound similar to vocal performances by Billie Holiday.[7] Author Gary Giddins of the book Weather Book also noted a similarity to Holiday on certain tracks, such as on "It Could Happen to You" or on "Indian Summer".[8] Although no formal review was given, AllMusic rated Incomparable! three out of five stars.[1]
Releases
Incomparable! was originally released by Verve Records in 1964 and was the thirteenth studio album released by the label. It was also the fifteenth studio album of her career. It was first offered as a vinyl LP in either mono or stereo versions. Six tracks were on either side of the LP.[5] It was then re-released on May 21, 2002, as a compact disc as part of Verve's "LP Reproduction" series. It was also digitally remastered and included information about session players and recording dates.[4] It was later made available to digital retailers and markets, including Apple Music.[9]
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