High Times Hard Times

Celebrating the One Hundredth Anniversary of Anita ODays Birth.Jazz legend Anita ODay was one of the most remarkable and unforgettable talents of the jazz world. A swinging, good-humored stylist, ODay rose to fame as a vocalist with the Gene Krupa Big Band (Let Me Off Uptown) and the Stan Kenton Band (And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine) in the 1940s before she became a successful solo act in the 1950spunctuated by her energetic performance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, as captured in the concert film Jazz on a Summers Day.Unfortunately, ODay was as well known for her drug problems as her jazz singing, and in High Times Hard Times, ODay offers an unvarnished personal account of her life, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the golden age of jazz. Starting out with her grisly 1966 overdose, then flashing back to tell all from the beginning, High Times Hard Times presents an intimate portrait of a larger-than-life jazz and big-band singerthe success of her early career, the tragedy of heroin addiction, her painful recovery, and her ultimate triumph.Filled with vivid characters, including Gene Krupa, Stan Kenton, Roy Eldridge, Billie Holiday, and other jazz legends, this candid, classic memoir is a must-read for anyone interested in the real details of jazzs golden age.