GREAT JAZZ SINGERS
The jazz world has been renowned for producing a steady stream of super-talented virtuoso musicians – namely saxophonists, trumpeters, pianists, guitarists, and drummers – but it has also given us wonderful exponents of what is arguably the oldest and most personal musical instrument of them all: the human voice. With such an overwhelming amount of talent to consider, that makes it nigh-on impossible to compile a list of the 50 Great Jazz Singers.
There have been an array of different – and some very singular – voices in jazz’s long and storied history, and all of them jostle for position among the best jazz singers – from big, loud, robust ones, such as the blues-influenced shouters Bessie Smith, Joe Williams, and Jimmy Rushing, right down to delicate and refined songbirds, vividly exemplified by Blossom Dearie’s girlish pipes (a Uncle Babka Favorite). And in between those two extremes you’ll find vocal gymnasts – Jon Hendricks, Al Jarreau, and Bobby McFerrin spring to mind – alongside golden-voiced balladeers whose calling-card is a smouldering sensuality (Peggy Lee, Julie London, Johnny Hartman, Chet Baker, Chris Connor and Cassandra Wilson). There were some singers, such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Nat “King” Cole and Mark Murphy, who were multi-disciplined and could combine a vibrant athleticism with a silky, lush delivery, so that they were adept at both uptempo material and ballads. And then there are those haunted souls – namely Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Anita O’Day – whose troubled personal lives imbued their performances with a poignant emotional dimension that had a cathartic effect on their listeners.
So jazz, as the following list of 50 Great Jazz Singers confirms, has produced a welter of wonderful and contrasting voices, both male and female, over the years. All of them are unique in their own way, and many have contributed greatly to the development of an art form that continues to evolve and which is being kept alive today by the emergence of new young stars such as Cecile McLorin Salvant and Jazzmeia Horn, who, in just a few years’ time, will probably find themselves placed on a list such as this. (Adapted from Charles Waring)
Enjoy!
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VA - 50 Great Jazz Singers (A Butterboy Compilation) CD1+CD2
https://krakenfiles.com/view/1iu4lAv91x/file.html
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Track list 1
01: Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) - Cry Me A River [1961] 04:16
02: Frank Sinatra (1916-1998) - I’ve Got the World on a String [1953] 02:11
03: Nat “King” Cole (1919-1965) - (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 [1946] 03:42
04: Billie Holiday (1915-1959) - Strange Fruit [1939] 30:11
05: Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990) - Misty [1959] 05:59
06: Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) - What A Wonderful World [1967] 02:16
07: Dinah Washington (1924-1963) - Sometimes I'm Happy [1956] 02:17
08: Ray Charles (1930-2004) - Georgia On My Mind [1960] 03:28
09: Peggy Lee (1920-2002) - Black Coffee [1965] 03:09
10: Jimmy Scott (1925-2014) - Guilty [1955] 03:11
11: Bessie Smith (1894-1937) - The St. Louis Blues [1929] 03:12
12: Carmen McRae (1922-1994) - A Child Is Born [1976] 03:28
13: Johnny Hartman (1923-1983) - Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread) [1966] 02:42
14: Nina Simone (1933-2003) - Wild Is The Wind [1966] 07:00
15: Jon Hendricks (born 1921) - Gimme That Wine [1960] 03:01
16: Betty Carter (1929-1998) - When I Fall In Love [1963] 03:02
17: Chet Baker (1929-1988) - Time After Time [1954] 02:46
18: Julie London (1926-2000) - Cry Me A River [1961] 02:49
19: Jimmy Rushing (1901-1972) - Goin To Chicago Blues [1941] 03:27
20: Chris Connor (1927-2009) - I Only Want Some [1960] 02:47
21: Bobby McFerrin (born 1950) - Turtle Shoes [1988] 03:35
22: Anita O’Day (1919-2006) - Tea For Two [1958] 03:49
23: Blossom Dearie (1924-2009) - Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Corcovado) [1964] 02:53
24: June Christy (1925-1990) - Something Cool [1954] 04:17
25: Kurt Elling (born 1967) - In The Winelight [2003] 06:41
Track list 2
26: Helen Merrill (born 1930) - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To [1954] 04:19
27: Oscar Brown, Jr (1926-2005) - Hazels Hips [1961] 03:06
28: Billy Eckstine (1914-1993) - In The Rain [1957] 02:19
29: Abbey Lincoln (1930-2010) - Porgy [1957] 04:27
30: Dianne Reeves (born 1956) - In Your Eyes [1999] 05:21
31: Mel Tormé (1925-1999) - Comin' Home Baby [1966] 02:41
32: Ernestine Anderson (1928-2016) - Continental Mind [1963] 02:09
33: George Benson (born 1943) - This Masquerade [1976] 08:06
34: Dee Dee Bridgewater (born 1950) - Good Morning Heartache [2010] 05:10
35: Al Hibbler (1915-2001) - After The Lights Go Down Low [1958] 02:38
36: Mark Murphy (1932-2015) - It's Like Love [1962] 02:09
37: Shirley Horn (1934-2005) - Here's To Life [1992] 05:37
38: Joe Williams (1918-1999) - Every Night [1987] 05:19
39: Al Jarreau (1940-2017) - Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive [2004] 04:03
40: Gregory Porter (born 1971) - On My Way To Harlem [2012] 07:40
41: Etta Jones (1928-2001) - That's All There Is To That [1962] 04:18
42: Andy Bey (born 1939) - Hibiscus [1974] 04:42
43: Cassandra Wilson (born 1955) - Show Me Love [2003] 03:33
44: Leon Thomas (1937-1999) - Sweet Little Angel [1973] 04:58
45: Helen Humes (1913-1981) - When the Saints Go Marching In [1959] 04:06
46: Cab Calloway (1907-1994) - Minnie The Moocher [1931] 03:14
47: Dakota Staton (1930-2007) - Heartbreak [1973] 04:24
48: Mose Allison (1927-2016) - Your Mind Is On Vacation [1976] 02:37
49: Madeleine Peyroux (born 1974) - Don't Wait Too Long [2004] 03:11
50: Jackie Paris (1924-2004) - Haunted Heart [1994] 05:41
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(Apologies for error on back cover of CD1 Should read Bessie Smith (1894-1937)
