Laura Crema pays tribute to Jazz on a Summer’s Day star, August 9 at VIFF Live

Local singer puts her own improvisational spice on classic songs in ode to Anita O’Day’s iconic performance in the acclaimed, 1959 Newport Jazz Festival documentary

(Left to right) Laura Crema (photo by Sapalo Shafooli); Anita O’Day in *Jazz on a Summer’s Day*

VIFF Live presents Laura Crema and a screening of Jazz on a Summer’s Day at the VIFF Centre on August 9 at 2 pm

IN 1958, ANITA O’DAY performed an iconic concert at the Newport Jazz Festival, decked out in a wide-brimmed hat and white gloves and putting her innovative rhythmic phrasing to classics like “Sweet Georgia Brown” and “Tea for Two”.

It was all famously captured in Bert Stern’s 1959 documentary Jazz on a Summer’s Day—a classic that’s screening this Sunday as part of VIFF Live, with local jazz star Laura Crema on hand to pay tribute to O’Day beforehand.

O’Day, after all, changed what it means to be a female jazz singer: nicknamed the Jezebel of Jazz, she made her voice equal to the male instrumentalists, keeping up with the fastest tempos and refusing to play a demure role.

Crema, joined by Sharon Minemoto on keyboard, Jon Bentley on sax, Wynston Minkler on bass, and Nino DiPasquale on drums, takes inspiration from the ’50s legend, putting her own improvisational spice on classic songs.

As for the artfully shot film itself, it’s one of the greatest jazz documentaries ever made, and offers a chance to revel in the talent of other legends too, including Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Chuck Berry, and Dinah Washington. The famous finale is the Lord’s Prayer by Mahalia Jackson at midnight, ushering in Sunday morning. And did we mention the clothes? From beat-era fedoras to Ray-Ban sunglasses and thin silk ties, there’s style to burn here, daddio.

Jazz on a Summer’s Day has been beautifully restored in 4K—and, 70 years later, it remains a pretty much perfect way to spend, well, a summer’s day. Infidels Jazz copresents.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is founding partner and editorial director of Stir. She is a Webster Award–winning arts journalist who has spent more than three decades immersed in Vancouver’s performing arts, film, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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Laura Crema pays tribute to Jazz on a Summer’s Day star, August 9 at VIFF Live

Local singer puts her own improvisational spice on classic songs in ode to Anita O’Day’s iconic performance in the acclaimed, 1959 Newport Jazz Festival documentary

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