[VicAjax]

i think everyone needs to stop getting so exercised about a thread that's almost 2 YEARS OLD.

sheesh.

 

[jsaliga]

That's beside the point and all you're doing is adding to the noise level here. The thread got bumped and people started contributing again to it. Everything was fine until a few people decided they were going have it their way and hijack this thread.

It was way too much to ask of people to either make recommendations and stay on topic or just shut the hell up and not post. There's always a few burger kings in every crowd who aren't satisfied until they spoil it for everyone else.

I'm done.

--Jerome

 

[cAsE sEnSiTiVe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsaliga /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh absolutely! One of my favorite jazz albums is this gem from Carmen McRae This one is beyond essential for jazz fans. If you have a turntable then get yourself a copy on vinyl. The CD has edited out all of Carmen's between-song stage banter, which is quite witty and charming. The two LP set leaves it in. --Jerome

Amen to this post. It is just about my favorite jazz album. Great music as well as a wonderful recording.

 

[immtbiker]

I feel that asking "who are your favorite black female vocalists" is something akin to asking "who is your favorite teenage pop star".
I don't feel that it is racist, and it is just a breakdown of a category that has produced a wealth of jazz vocalist talent.
Unless the OP is a racist, it shouldn't be viewed as a racist post.

On that note, I would like to add, Phoebe Snow, Diane Schurr, and Betty Carter to the already huge list.

Add to that, Queen Latifah's last 2 albums (incredible big band jazz)

...and Alicia Keys (who dabbles in a jazz/R&B fusion on occasion).

 

[olblueyez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif Amazing how sheltered some folks are. Anyway I checked a lot of these recommendations out on the amazon sound clips and Nina Simone was exactly what I was looking for. I knew of Holiday, etc but the recordings are so old that the sound quality gets in the way. Simone sounds like the real deal. Thankyou

I too feel your pain about the recording quality of Billie's recordings. This album is remastered and sounds amazing, no clicks. no pops, no background noise, best part is all the songs are amazing.

 

[tru blu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by olblueyez /img/forum/go_quote.gif I too feel your pain about the recording quality of Billie's recordings. This album is remastered and sounds amazing, no clicks. no pops, no background noise, best part is all the songs are amazing.

I'd also try Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection...amazing how clean it is and there's a DVD disc of stuff she did for film and TV.

 

[DLeeWebb]

Nina Simone

 

[immtbiker]

Sarah Vaughan has one of the most beautiful, melodic female voices that I've ever heard. Most of her albums are currently available, re-issued, and they are as clean as clean gets.

Listen to these samples (especially "Lullaby of Birdland"):

Amazon.com: Sarah Vaughan W/ Clifford Brown: Sarah Vaughan and Clifford Brown: Music

 

[Displayman]

My favorites are:
Ella Fitzgerald
Sarah Vaughn
Billie Holiday
Etta James
Nina Simone
Dinah Washington
Dianne Reeves
Nancy Wilson
Pearl Bailey
Lena Horn

 

[immtbiker]

Displayman, where the heck have you been?

You should have included your wife in that category (well, not the black part, but the saxophone and vocals part...still want her CD).

You coming to the NYC Fall Meet?

 

[riceboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsaliga /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ella Fitzgerald is my favorite jazz singer period. But then again it could be said that I have several favorites, all for different reasons. Ella because she could swing like no one else, was a great scat singer, and left behind a large body of work (can't thank her enough for the Song Book albums) of consistently high quality. Billie Holiday is a favorite because she brought emotional intensity to jazz and changed the face of jazz vocals from the tin pan alley style that people were used to at the time. Practically invented the torch song. Sarah Vaughan is a favorite primarily because of her voice and her range. But she was an effective interpreter too. --Jerome

Hey Jerome, I liked how you put into words so well about Ella, Billie and Sarah. Well done. Ella certainly can swing and she is a great scat singer for sure, which is one of the many things I enjoy when I listen to her. I to thank her for all the work she has left and I thoroughly enjoy it often

I do like what Billie and Sarah bring as well. They are all great and we all have our favorites for sure. I really like this thread as others are sharing some albums that I'm not familiar with and I will definitely listen to. Keep those suggestions/recommendations coming

.

 

[riceboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by immtbiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sarah Vaughan has one of the most beautiful, melodic female voices that I've ever heard. Most of her albums are currently available, re-issued, and they are as clean as clean gets. Listen to these samples (especially "Lullaby of Birdland"): Amazon.com: Sarah Vaughan W/ Clifford Brown: Sarah Vaughan and Clifford Brown: Music

I got that album Aaron and I can say I really enjoy it. Especially Lullaby of Birdland. I too like Dana Owens and her rendition of "Lullaby of Birdland" too

 

[immtbiker]

Cool. I have it in SACD and sometimes I get upset because I try to listen to it on my bedroom rig with my G08, and as they say in Brooklyn, "the machine, she no wanna work"!

I was fortunate enough to see Ella, before she passed, with Joe Pass at the Beacon.
I also got to see Count Basie with Joe Williams. One of the benefits of being 49. Sometimes I wish that I was born 10 years earlier, especially since I got to enjoy the whole 60's rock revolution and Woodstock, 5 years after it's prime.
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida and Spirit in the Sky, along with the Beatles "White Album" all being played on my Panasonic portable cassette player, thanks to my cool dad.

When he handed me the double cassette version of the "White Album", he said to me, "Mark my words, this album is going to make history!".

We should have bet at the track, that day.

 

[jsaliga]

Sarah Vaughan also recorded a ton of material and left a considerable legacy for jazz lovers. In the 1970s and 80s her voice deepened a bit and she had a tendency to sing in the lower registers a great deal of the time. She still had great range but it wasn't quite as wide as her younger days. Nevertheless, I loved her singing throughout her career and she continued to make great recordings and perform live in the twilight of her life.

While I like the record she did with Clifford Brown, I believe that there are better albums in her catalog. Here are a few of my favorites:

[size=small]Sarah Vaughan at Mister Kelly's[/size]

Recorded live at Mister Kelly's in Chicago in 1957, I think this album captures Sarah in the prime of career and at her intimate best. She does an absolutely soul stirring performance of Willow Weep for Me, even though she forgets the lyrics at one point and makes a humorus recovery. There are a lot of great songs here: Just One of Those Things, Honeysuckle Rose, I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself A Letter, Embracable You, Dancing in the Dark, I Cover the Waterfront, etc. All sung in a way that only Sarah Vaughan can pull off. Highly recommended.


[size=small]Snowbound[/size]

This is a 1963 release on Roulette Records. I have this one on original vinyl and as part of an 8 CD Sarah Vaughan boxed set from Mosaic. I actually prefer the Mosaic CDs because their remasters tame some of the excessive echo added to Sarah's vocals that marred a number of the original vinyl and CD releases.


[size=small]Sarah + 2[/size]

Another early 1960s Roulette records date that has Sarah paired with only a guitar and bass. When Sunny Gets Blue, When Lights Are Low, Key Largo, Just Squeeze Me, and The Very Thought of You are the highlights. Great album.


[size=small]How Long Has This Been Going On?[/size]

I have this on vinyl and XRCD. Arguably the greatest recording of her later period on Pablo Records. Recorded in 1978, here we see a very mature Sarah Vaughan with Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass (that alone should be enough for any serious jazz fan to order this one right now if they don't already have it). The entire album is very strong, though I think that the song I've Got the World on a String is a little out of place here. Despite that, Sarah turns in jaw droppingly great performances of Midnight Sun, You're Blase, More Than You Know, Teach Me Tonight, Body and Soul, and the title song. She presides over nothing less than a master class on jazz vocals.

--Jerome

 

[riceboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by immtbiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cool. I have it in SACD and sometimes I get upset because I try to listen to it on my bedroom rig with my G08, and as they say in Brooklyn, "the machine, she no wanna work"! I was fortunate enough to see Ella, before she passed, with Joe Pass at the Beacon. I also got to see Count Basie with Joe Williams. One of the benefits of being 49. Sometimes I wish that I was born 10 years earlier, especially since I got to enjoy the whole 60's rock revolution and Woodstock, 5 years after it's prime.

That is very, very cool Aaron that you got to see Ella and Count Basie. I too wish I was born during the 60s rock revolution too. Thanks for sharing your recording that you enjoy as well.