76
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenHow was this careless, self-destructive human rhythm machine able to outlast almost all her peers? Maybe the vitality of the jazz she made kept her alive. She was one tough lady.
- Swinging gleefully on a sun-soaked afternoon, crafting strangely intoxicating phrases, O’Day could do no wrong on that afternoon at the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island in 1958.
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertHere was a great artist. She enjoyed her life. She didn't complain at the time, she didn't complain when she went cold turkey, she didn't complain in her 80s.
- Although the documentary is something of a patchwork affair and lacks the late singer's ineffable smoothness and rhythmic brilliance, it emphatically makes the case that here was one of the four or five all-time great female jazz voices – or "song stylists," as she called herself.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoA high point shows O'Day, in a black-and-white hat and form-fitting dress, singing "Sweet Georgia Brown" at the Newport Jazz Festival. That scene alone confirms O'Day's place among the greats.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleA loving biographical tribute.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterAn engaging if less than revelatory documentary.
- 70VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyForce of personality and terrific vintage performance clips make a keeper of Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceA good deal livelier than the usual music-doc embalming.
- 63TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxOffers what her fans came to expect from the "Jezebel of Jazz": great music.