Elisa Lecuyer raconte Anita O'Day

| Standards, Women's Heritage

This time, Elisa Lécuyer celebrates the music and career of Anita O’Day, a free-spirited and rebellious figure in vocal jazz who rose to prominence in the swing era and went on to become one of the great voices of bebop.
An artist defying categorisation, she turned the conventions of the big band singer on their head by turning her voice into a true instrument: with incisive phrasing, a formidable sense of rhythm, and a taste for risk and improvisation, she sang as one plays jazz. Rejecting artifice and favouring rhythm over vibrato, she belongs to a tradition where the voice engages with the musicians on equal terms. Anita O’Day thus stands out as a major figure at the crossroads of swing and bop, whose influence still resonates today.

The Franco-Venezuelan singer Elisa Lécuyer flourishes as a storyteller of melodies. Once a month, at 38Riv, she dons her academic garb to immerse herself in the work of one of her favourite artists. Somewhere between a concert and a lecture, she weaves together stories and songs with the same eager and inspired energy. She uses her impetuous energy and eloquent vulnerability to express her musicality, always in the service of the lyrics of the songs she performs.

Elisa Lécuyer: vocals
Jeremy Hinnekens: piano