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Trav'lin' Light

This 2011 CD brings together two albums O'Day recorded on the Verve label in 1960 and '61: Waiter, Make Mine Blues and Trav'lin' Light. I'd learned about the former in the course of some YouTube expeditions undertaken during the first Covid lockdowns and was keen to hear it in full. Then, on listening to the CD as a whole, I came to understand why Trav'lin' Light was given top billing: it is the stronger album of the two.

The 1961 Trav'lin' Light album was a tribute to the then recently-deceased Billie Holiday, with all the songs on it having been mainstays of her repertoire. O'Day's voice can't match the emotive strength of Holiday's, but it does have a damaged, careworn quality that suits the material very well. On half the songs she's backed by a sextet featuring Ben Webster on tenor sax and Barney Kessel on guitar; while Johnny Mandel's orchestra provide the accompaniment on the remainder. On Waiter, Make Mine Blues, the backing is courtesy of Russ Garcia's orchestra.

My favourite tracks on Trav'lin' Light include irresistible versions of 'Miss Brown to You' and 'Remember'; whereas a few others, such as her take on 'Don't Explain' are less memorable. On Waiter, Make Mine Blues there are very fine renditions of 'Angel Eyes' and 'Whatever Happened to You', while I'm less fond of 'Yesterdays', which seems a tad over-extended.
 

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