Jazz Vocalists - CD/SD

I've this compilation of Rodgers & Hart songs that I only listened to once or twice because half the vocalists are so damned mannered & stiff. Peggy Lee, Mel Torme, Louis Prima. (They're not jazz, though, are they? I'll hush up.) (Is the Velvet Fog a jazz vocalist?) (Is Sinatra? I always get irked when people gush about Sinatra's voice and his panache and his swingin' thing, like he's so cool & beyond reproach.)

Josh: The seperate but equal idea is interesting. Certainly the world of Billie Holliday or Ella Fitzgerald seems very removed from the world of contemporary instrumental jazz (in my very patchy and no doubt laughable inaccurate view).

But Louis Armstrong, I find it very hard to take him seriously as a vocalist. In any sense.

Odd that, by way of example, you picked just about the only jazz singers -- along with Johnny Hartman, maybe, and one or two others -- that I actually like.

A lot of vocal jazz is crap -- it combines the worst aspects of jazz (sterility, necrophilia, stagnation) and pop (endless posturing and the fetishization of ignorance and incompetence) -- but that's largely due to the fact that most jazz vocalists themselves are crap. As a jazz instrumentalist, the most tedious thing in the world is to see a countless procession of jazz vocalists who:

-- can't read music,

-- can't sing in tune,

-- don't know the songs or the chords,

-- don't have anything interesting to say,

-- and think they're hot shit.

Also, vocal jazz is generally extremely conservative, and it's no coincidence that it's also where a lot of the money is. Many great instrumentalists, yearning for the chance to produce original and creative music, have ended up as members of the backing bands for singers, performing tired chestnuts (and never too loud!) to crowds of smug, self-satisfied upper-class snobs.

Finally, scat solos. "Skiddle-dee-bop-a-shoo-ba-loo-ba-woogle-woogle." There are about nine people, give or take, who can pull them off; everyone else sounds ridiculous at best.

The contempt of jazz instrumentalists for jazz vocalists is legendary, and usually well-earned. It's hard to blame them for it, but it's unfortunate when that contempt is turned on that 5% of jazz singers who actually do work hard and make an effort to learn about the music, rather than relying on their voice and, most often, looks.

All that being said, albums like Hartman and Coltrane (or was it the other way round?) are classic, and prove that vocal jazz can be a thing of beauty and wit. And even a notch or two below that, there's room for people like Louis Prima in the world, certainly. But below that, it's a mess -- especially after 1965 or so -- and it's certainly not jazz: just bad, moldy pop.

maybe jazz singing is not different form from popular music singing full stop? the obvious cut off point is that anti-technique never cuts it in jazz (not that it can be dileneated that simply), BUT dinah washington is one of the greatest singers of songs of any kind of all time. sure, she's a jazz singer in a sense (when she's singing in front of jass guys, huh), but most of all she's a singer (better than ella, better than billie, better than anyone - and, pinefox, once i thought ella was about as good as it got too, so check her out!).

june tyson is a great jazz singer (long long time sun ra associate). leon thomas is a jazz stylist out on his own (pharoah sanders' "the creator has a master plan" etc.). fontella bass was also in on some choice '60s stuff (art ensemble of chicago, *and* she had a chart hit with the chess records soul classic "rescue me").

That said, you should check out Kurt Elling. He's a young singer who's got incredible technique, a great band, cool arrangements, and most of all takes lots of risks. He's not afraid to start screaming like a tenor player in the middle of his solos.

I'd say 'The Messenger' is my favorite album of his.

Adherence to text = less freedom to improvise?

Why do I always get the impression that bands behind singers really are playing "behind" them? Diff. for instrumental soloists: either feels like everyone's playing at the same time (at different volumes maybe, but still), or the band is playing "beneath" soloist (better maybe: "around").

Vicar: for 'other' views on Burns' "Jazz", cf. thread on it.

If I was Nicky D or Josh K I would make those words blue. My editor tells me it's something to do with 'code'. Isn't it always?

As it is, you can probably find it either under S&D or in the New Answers section.

And I'd say that Billie Holiday's recs with Teddy Wilson are as jazz as jazz can be. Sublime.

Exception: Chet Baker. Dude!

Jazz singers = CLEO LAINE! Which is dud, dud, dud (though I have a soft spot for poor old Johnny). The only person who should be allowed to scat is Balloo the Bear.

And that's why I like them! Nat Cole! Dean Martin! Chet Baker! Ella! Important building blocks for pop-rock.

Nina Simone is brilliant, but I wouldn't call her a jazz singer. Just saw her in NYC, and seeing her again in Oakland, CA, btw.

Also, Josh, you're definitely right about the singer having a separate, elevated place in the group. Maybe it's partly due to the fact that the unamplified voice is quieter than horns and drums at comparable dynamic levels, but I've had it drilled into me to respect and support the singer when there is one. There isn't the same sense of equality in interaction...there are exceptions of course (like when I saw Kurt Elling do 'Resolution' live last year, he was very much an equal part of the group).

However my selction would be Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Anita O'Day, Nina Simone, and early aretha franklin , pre queen of soul era, (imho the difinitive version of 'love for sale' is sung by her).

I can't think of anyone post 60s. There was no longer a need to use vocalists to make jazz pop by then so number of good vocal talents went elsewhere, see aretha switching to soul on moving labels and belting out soul classics. i can't think of any current jazz singers, except one i saw sing with herbie hancock who was just plain dull. then again with a few notable exceptions i can't think of many people currently pushing back the boundaries of jazz, or eving playing well in an old style, with a few notable exceptions of course.

That's awfully "Ken Burns' Jazz", don't you think? Not to mention that I don't agree. Trying to create some sort of hierarchy of musical greatness or importance isn't particularly productive -- there are too many apples and oranges, for starters.

And even if the hierarchy were valuable, I probably wouldn't put Armstrong at the top, great as he was. If it had to be a jazz musician, I'd probably pick Miles Davis. But that's more a matter of opinion.

I stand by my statement. Awfully "Ken Burns"? You think Ken Burns was the first person to rank Louis Armstrong so highly? Saying Louis Armstrong is the most -- or at least one of the most -- musicians of the 20th century is so obvious it's almost redundant. Miles Davis? I love him, but by his own admission he wouldn't have had a career without Pops. Miles's influence was primarily on jazz only. while Armstrong's was on pop music in general. See the difference? And besides, we're talking about jazz SINGERS. Again, I challenge anyone who can find me a singer -- jazz or otherwise -- who has had such a dramatic impact on his art than Armstrong. No one knew HOW to sing pop music before his arrival.

this is a wild statement! care to expand upon this Phil?

does the description of pop here = jazzism?

My favorite jazz vocalist: Eddie Jefferson.

leon thomas is one of my favorites. all of his Flying Dutchman albums are great, as are everything he recorded with pharoah sanders. there are some dud songs (the bad calypso track) and the Full Circle album is kinda weak.

pharoh has a few albums w/vocals but w/o leon that are great "Village of the Pharoahs" with Seditarius Brown and "Wisdom Through Music". both beautiful Impulse albums

Max Roach has done wonderful things with vocals. his wife Abbey Lincoln sang on a few beautiful albums, "Freedom Now Suite" is wonderful. and he's done a bunch of stuff with jazz choruses. they're arranged so strangely. check out "It's Time" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (the second one is more gospel mixed with jazz).

Very similar to the Roach album "It's time" with weirdly arranged chorus is Bobby Hutcherson's "Now". one of my all time favorite albums. Eugene McDaniels is featured singer. the album almost sounds like a musical or something, but it's firmly rooted in a dark jazz sound.

another great jazz singer is Andy Bey. he's appeared on Roach's "Members, Don't Git Weary" and on solo albums.

Don Cherry sings occasionally, and his Codona (COllin walcott, DOn cherry, and NAna vasconcelos) albums are a wonderful mix of vocals, jazz and world music.

two more husband wife jazz player/singers are Michal Urbaniak and his wife Urszula Dudziak (fusion-y) and Doug Carn and his wife Jean (soulful, funky jazz)

and last but not least is Patty Waters who recorded an album for ESP on recomendation of Albert Ayler. the first half is smokey bar room ballads, and the second half is freaked out fucked up free jazz where her vocals compare to Yoko Ono and Linda Sharrock

What a voice.

Having recently gotten the reissue of Falling in Love is Wonderful from Rhino, all I can say is that the man is a national treasure.

And Billie Holiday is magnificent too, and Bessie Smith and Nina Simone and Louis Armstrong and if we count him (and I don't) very much Frank Sinatra. I'm less keen on Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan - I like them both, and they are technically magnificent, but I can't quite fall in love. I have quite a few of their records, and keep expecting to fall for them any day.

My problem with vocal jazz has always been that it has this smooth tone to it that I never could get into; but then, I only really heard the superpopular stuff.

Howeever, there's a song on that Abbey Lincoln album that's co-written by Billie Holiday, that has one of the loveliest melodies I*ve ever heard, which leads me to believe that I need to give ol' Holiday a proper chance one of these days.

Meanwhile, Roach's Freedom Now Suite was, as I'm sure for many others, my introduction to Lincoln. Her phrasing, and the power and grit she has really hit the spot for me.

Then, of course, there's Leon Thomas' singing with Pharoah Sanders, which is quite the wonder in its own right.

1. there were significant periods when jazz singing was a central style of pop singing. Mr McGraw from 2001 may be OTM when he suggested that Armstrong is the most influential singer of the 20th century, because along with Bing Crosby and one other (forget who and the book I left at work...), according to Giddens, he invented pop singing as we know it (or knew it before rock and roll - but rock owes more to Crosby that anyone lets on anyway - Elvis knew this).

2. Armstrong's improv genius was both vocal and on trumpet. Scat was vocal improv, and Armstrong took it form a regional fad to the mainstream.

3. Armstrong could turn really hokey stuff into art. I've heard this myself on the set I bought - really corny lyrics are made expressive (and funny - his singing has tons of comedy in it).

Also, it is clear to me that Ella and Billie were actually popular pop singers. Just because (non-hip hop) pop now boils down to either post James Brown funk backing soulful teen groups or earnest young singer-songwriters does not mean that Jazz wasn't once pop.

A-and, listen to Songs for Swinging Lovers and tell me that Sinatra isn't a jazz singer!

i really like sarah vaughan as well. she has the same sensitivity as the best instrumentalists. there is a version somewhere of "they cant take that away from me" where she sings the word "key" in the line "the way you sing off key" off key and its fucking brilliant.

I think I need to start checking out jazz magazines. I don't like most of the genre, but what else is there currently? Obviously that will seem like an outrageous question, but fundamentally that's how I feel. Outside of some foreign things, there's not too much new music for my to get excited about beyond some avant-garde jazz and accessible experimental music.

(I've been forgetting to use my new e-mail address.)

Lambert, Hendricks and Ross might deserve mention, too.

Anyway, anyone interested ought to pick up Teagarden's "Mis'ry and the Blues," from the early '60s...mellow, good-natured stuff.

Annette Peacock - My Mama Never Taught Me How To Cook
Archie Shepp - Attica Blues
Archie Shepp - The Cry of My People
Carla Bley - Escalator Over The Hill
Donald Byrd - A New Perspective
Eddie Gale - Black Rhythm Happening
Eddie Gale - Ghetto Music

Ernie Andrews is another great one who doesn't get talked about much.

Betty Carter's Feed the Fire, from '93 with DeJohnette, Holland and Geri Allen, was a fine disc, doesn't sound over "mannered" at all.

AP sings in a gruff bluesy tone over sorta out, blues rock jams. at times she reminds me of Linda Sharrock (especially on the fusiony Paradise album). she also does a bunch of sing/talk stuff and has often been compared to Patti Smith (even though it's the other way around as she like to point out in her hillarious liner notes - she's an egomaniac, but almost has a right to believe the stuff she belives). she was the first person to sing through a Moog keyboard, and some of that stuff is just WILD. the other closest comparison i have is that Escalator Over the Hill album. both very, very of their 70s times

I bought an EP of hers from the early 50s at an antique shop a few years back, found out it was worth a nice chunk of change and sold it, but I recall a really pretty version of "Fools Rush In" that I'd like to hear again.

xpost

Heard Billie Holiday and Dakota Staton songs on the radio today. Just gorgeous.

http://www.divaville.org

I used to DJ at her old station, and it was always cool to watch her shift begin, as she brought in crates and crates of vocal jazz.

David Raposa, et al.,

Why hasn't anyone defended Peggy Lee in the time intervening David's comment at the top of this thread and now? Haven't you heard Black Coffee?

Somebody said something bad about Peggy Lee upthread?

nobody said nothing about Joe Williams upthread (ok neither would i have 4 years ago, went through a phase of jw last year). love that 'flickering' thing he did with his otherwise luxurious baritone and he was equally adept at blues and soul jazz and such as he was with the jazz standards from what i've heard.

and i still haven't heard much of the count basie stuff with which he made his name. and he was claire huxtable's dad!

x-post James Redd

Maybe not, maybe it's just a poorly thought-out paragraph that can be ambiguously interpreted.. Practically the second post in the thread.

Oh yeah, now I see the problem.

Here is a Peggy Lee thread for further reference Peggy Lee is the Bomb

joe williams is incredible

right now im listening to 'traveling miles,' after being reminded of cassandra's existence by the new yorker :-/ but 'run the voodoo down' is pretty impressive

I'm looking for Chanukah ideas! Joe Williams might work. Dinah Washington sounded great the other weekend on WPFW radio. Hmmm what to get.

I wanna see that Anita O'Day bio doc that is showing in DC (I think it may still be around that is).

RIP Chris Connor.

I gave her own thread yesterday and Scott Seward and I were the only ones who posted on it

Chris Connor (jazz vocalist) R.I.P.

I really should listen to Gretchen Parlato, who won the 2009 Village Voice Jazz Vocals critics award category. I wonder if she's as good as they think--or should I just stick with older recordings.

Older recordings by jazz vocal legend types I mean.

Liked her live performance better than the record of hers that I bought, but haven't heard the latest.

I watched 2 youtube videos--one where she was going for a Brazilian bossa feel and one where she sang in a quicker tempo than I'm used to for jazz vocals. Haven't made up my mind yet

I like that fact that she sings Brazilian numbers in the original Portuguese.

Yep that's good, although maybe some Brazilians might be picky about her accent.

Also worth mentioning on this thread (or maybe she has one of her own) is that I received a copy of the new Nina Simone bio, "Princess Noire: the Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone," done by the author of a Dinah Washington bio (and other books including one on Chess Records) Nadine Cohodas. She lives in DC but I've never seen any mention of her doing any readings/appearances for any of her books (George Pelecanos does them all the time). I've never actually read any of her books but would like too. Not sure why kind of reviews she gets.

Not sure what kind of reviews she gets

RIP Abbey Lincoln: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/arts/music/15lincoln.html

Awww, that's sad. She had a unique style that I liked. Damn, jazz photographer Herman Leonard just died, conjunto accordionist Esteban Jordan, and Lincoln. A tough series of days for the music world.

abbeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

singer, writer, actress, painter and more...an impressive life

rip
listened to her quite a bit recently, always intriguing, agitated in a great way

I need to add to my Abbey Lincoln collection (and see "Girl Can't Help It" again).

Likewise. I don't know enough about her earlier stuff, but this one from the 90s has gotten a lot of play at my house:

http://images.artistdirect.com/Images/Sources/AMGCOVERS/music/cover200/drc600/c667/c6679593b01.jpg

Gretchen Parlato's new album sounds pretty good; she's amazing live and, when she's in tandem with Lionel Loueke, essential
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=134795606&m=134799491

Was wondering about that. Friend posted link to her Facebook page which broke my computer. Well, shut the tab in the browser, is all.

It's really nice, i'm on second listen.

ahhhh robert glasper is the producer; explains quite a bit.

great cover of "All That I Can Say" on here... and a solid Simply Red cover too!

Gonna have to miss her tonight and tomorrow in DC at Bohemian Caverns. Here's a kinda interesting interview with her

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2011/04/15/its-more-than-a-whisper-a-conversation-with-gretchen-parlato/

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-10-03/entertainment/30256192_1_wynton-marsalis-bed-stuy-grammy

Gregory Porter c/d?

ANDY MOTHERFUCKING BEY by the way will be playing at Lincoln Center Jazz this Friday and I am really looking forward to it.
Also gonna be a full performance of Coltrane's Africa/Brass

The first post in this thread is insane

Yes

Who else is on the Andy Bey gig? I saw him once but I'd really like to see him with this guitar player who plays with him a lot, Paul Meyers, who was also up at Lincoln Center last month with Jon Hendricks for Jon's ninetieth birthday.

Been meaning to check out Gregory Porter. He played at the excellent North Square Jazz Brunch http://northsquarejazz.com/ a few times but I never made it. This guy who usually plays bass with him, Aaron James, is really good, like second coming of Paul Chambers.

OH I see. Impulse Records at 50.

The first post in this thread is insane
His second comment even more so:
But Louis Armstrong, I find it very hard to take him seriously as a vocalist. In any sense.
I mean, I don't think pop singing was taken seriously UNTIL Armstrong's first vocal recordings in the 1920s. Then it became high art.

Lots of people have trouble with lots of jazz vocalist but singling out those three was bananas.

i saw that jon hendricks show; it was a greeeeeaaaaat time

Oh no, you didn't. Did you? Did he sing "Crepuscule With Nellie?" Did you get in on a forks discount?

A little greased-lightning vocalese from Mr. Hendricks. I actually prefer a different version which is slower, but I couldn't find it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDbAsndZGW0

Any suggestions for a good place to start with Dinah Washington?

First Issue: the Dinah Washington Story is a pretty good 2-CD overview, while the The Definitive Dinah Washington keeps things to one disc.
Other good studio albums includes After Hours with Miss D, Dinah Jams and Dinah!

In The Land of HiFi is pretty great.

There is a really cool medley of "Cloudburst" and a Stephen Sondheim song "Getting Married Today" by John Pizzarelli and his wife Jessica Molaskey.

lol, i did get in on a forks discount actually.
no nellie, but he did "in walked bud" among plenty other stuff.
seeing hendricks and bobby mcferrin freestyle together was a great bucket list moment
Diane Reeves ripping up Social Call didn't hurt either.
And the second act full length big band set from Jimmy Heath weren't too shabby!
great night
i actually got to meet and talk with Hendricks when he played the blue note earlier this year. what a passionate, vivacious, powerhouse of a guy. If that's ninety, I can't wait to feel and look that good. He spent a lot of time talking about astrology!

Wait, are you saying you went that show he played with Annie Ross?

yeah, were you at that one?
i waited upstairs to talk to both of them and annie came out distracted and i took her hand with both of mine and gave her a real serious heartfelt "thank you" and she stopped and we had a super minor for her very major for me moment of her looking me over and then saying "you're welcome honey" and she went down the stairs and was gone

No, I thought about going but couldn't make it and don't really like to go to the Blue Note too much. I've seen Annie before at the Metropolitan Room a few times. Actually what I did do was the weekend before that show, Annie's piano player had a gig at Smalls so I went down there and my long shot came in when Jon showed up dressed in his captain's whites. I talked to him for a second and got to see him sing a few numbers including "Crepuscule with Nellie," which he said he never recorded because Nellie wouldn't let him because it was too personal and "In Walked Bud." Now that I think about it I've also seen Andy Bey sing that last one.

i've seen bey twice before; both times in small rooms and i was blown away by his voice
been listening to experience and judgment a lot lately and finding it to be like reading rumi

JRatB, we likely wobble in the same circles.

We need to get Hurting to come out more and close the loop.

I never got around to listening to AB's records, only saw him once and I didn't like the band he had that night so much but I liked some of what he was doing, especially a song about the blues with all these elaborate lyrics about the different specific meanings the word "blues" has in music. I need to listen to more.

no time like the present:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHQOHF3pZmk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbnIT_DoRv8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoTP7gZsDYE

Thanks. Complete derail, but you weren't at Drom for this event, were you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfYwm2HgLCQ&noredirect=1

no. looks like a good time tho. i've done some work with the drom cats.

It was pretty cool especially later when some other cats joined in. I remember watching that show and gradually calming down after having gotten into some beef on an early loutallica thread.

Back to the topic, sort of: When I went to see Annie Ross the second time she remembered me from the time before because I had requested a song so I was pretty happy but then after the show I overstayed my welcome a little on the receiving line and somebody, Warren Vaché, maybe, gave me the back off look so I got out of there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTW1nBg_TF8&feature=artist

umm.

RIP Chuck Brown. Your album with Eva Cassidy nicely mixed blues and jazz

http://www.evacassidy.org/eva/citypaper.htm

aw man, that sucks

I just can't get into Kurt Elling's voice. Listening on Spotify to his new "1619 Broadway:The Brill Building Project" cd.

Washington Post reviewer just raved about his live show highlighting that album. Ehh. I'll stick with old-schoolers.

Other than a song or two here or there (I like his over the top version of "Nature Boy") he's too showoffy and too much for me too.

I have more time for him than you guys do

goddamn this cecile mclorin-salvant album is good
she's killer live too

Will have to check that out.

Buika covers Billie Holiday and Abbey Lincoln on her new cd. I like her "velvet gravel" voice (saw that description in the press kit)

Pretty soon that entire press kit will appear on ilx in one place or another.

I keep trying to find someone else interested in her on ilx, but am about to give up. She's recording an NPR Tiny Desk show when she comes to DC next week. Maybe when that runs, someone here will find her of interest, but I doubt it. Maybe I'll add her to the Chitlin Circuit soul thread and see if XChuckx likes her.

I am kind of interested. I had some idea I was going to go out last night to ask John Benitez about it but I didn't.

Gloria Lynne, Dakota Staton and other female jazz vocal balladeers

saw cecile with dee dee bridgewater recently; completely brought the house down

ilm back in the day had some interesting opinions

Yep

a friend is wondering what the jazz with fairly trad croon-y vocals but more freaky and experimental instrumentation she heard was. nothing that fits the bill to any great extent is coming to mind. any ideas? (also general suggestions, it sounds like it could be an interesting combination.)

city of glass?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2v-Y7Ggb-g

turns out it was scott walker she heard, oops. this is a nice track tho

https://youtu.be/LjTqqL8p7t8

https://youtube.com/LjTqqL8p7t8

Aargh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjTqqL8p7t8

I think I like her vocals better than his

Think she has lots of upside to her career right now. I like him fine, have seen him sing to the accompaniment of cats I really dig. Now that I think about it, he played the last night ever at one of my favorite places ever, a place called Cachaça, I must have posted about it a few times when it was still going.

been on a big Chet Baker/Blossom Dearie/Astrud Gilberto sorta vibe lately - anybody got any recommendations for similar stuff

Try Daryl Sherman for a Blossom Dearie-type approach.

From the The Future Is Now! thread some KK vids posted there too:

From press sheet:

Karin Krog
Don't Just Sing | An Anthology: 1963-1999

2xLP & CD Available: June 30, 2015 (Digital: June 16th)
Light In The Attic

The work of Karin Krog may be unfamiliar to much of the world, but in her native Norway and Scandinavia at large, she’s practically a household name. This says much about the local enthusiasm for post-bop jazz but also about the tyranny of distribution: until 1994, Krog’s albums weren’t available in the USA or UK, meaning three decades of recordings were waiting to be discovered. In theory, until now, she hasn’t had any regularly distributed albums in the US or the UK–this is certainly the first one even marketed/promoted in here and in England. With this anthology of her best recordings from 1963 to 1999–curated with Krog’s own input–we hope to set the record straight.

To listen to opening track “As A Wife Has A Cow” is to jump into the deep end. It’s 54 seconds of words, voice, and technology, a looped, echoing reading of a Gertrude Stein poem. The effect is disquieting and alien but deeply rhythmic, too–and that’s Krog’s USP. Don’t Just Sing takes in these spoken experiments along with free jazz, improvisation, standards, contemporary covers, and electronic manipulation. It features some of the best regarded jazz players in Europe, not least her partner, John Surman, the English saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist and composer. Like Annette Peacock, Krog experiments with solo vocals run through electronics and performs with progressive electric jazz combos and traditional acoustic groups as well.

Krog began singing jazz in the 1950s and started her first band in 1962. She not only had two tracks on the first ever Norwegian jazz LP, Metropol Jazz, but also became the first Norwegian jazz artist to record and release a full album (1964’s By Myself on the Philips label). Her sound developed as technological advances made new recording techniques possible, and she quickly embraced the album as the perfect form to contain her sonic experiments. “There is such a thing as too much manipulation,” says Krog today.

Recorded with tenor saxophonist Jan Garbarek and bass player Arild Andersen, 1968’s Joy is regarded as her masterwork. Tracks from it can be found on this compilation, as can a couple of interesting covers: Joni Mitchell’s “All I Want” and Bobby Gentry’s “Ode To Billy Joe,” both of which show how Krog brought jazz aesthetics to pop songs of the day. “I remember that there was a lot of buzz around Blue, and Joni Mitchell is, as everybody knows, a very talented singer and songwriter,” says Krog in the new liner notes.

“Glass" and “Tystnaden" are the two previously unreleased finds from the archives, the former written for a British documentary in 1997, the latter a soundscape improvisation from a 1963 studio session with Lars Werner on piano, Kurt Lindgren on bass, and Janne Carlsson on drums. The compilation rounds off with the “Psalm” movement from John Coltrane’s monumental piece, A Love Supreme. Krog’s version came at suggestion of the man himself. “It was John who pointed to the text on the inner sleeve of the Impulse! LP and said, ‘Karin, look. Why don’t you sing this?’” she remembers.

Krog remains fiercely productive, recording, performing, and running Meantime Records from her and John’s villa near Oslo. Now 77, she’s showing no signs of slowing down. “Everybody has to retire at some point, but I believe that once a musician, you’re always a musician,” she says. “If I can’t stand up and sing on stage anymore, I can always do it sitting down!”

Curated with Krog’s own input, this anthology showcases her best recordings from 1963 to 1999, including songs from 1968’s groundbreaking Joy, her 1970 Dexter Gordon collaboration Some Other Spring, her pop-jazz masterwork 1974’s We Could Be Flying, tracks from the Japanese only Different Days, Different Ways which focus on 1970-72 experimental vocal works, and previously unreleased tracks.

― dow, Tuesday, April 21, 2015 6:07 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wow, that is great! (interested in the g. stein piece especially)

― no lime tangier, Tuesday, April 21, 2015 6:48 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― no lime tangier, Tuesday, April 21, 2015 6:52 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Just listened to the promo of the xpost Karin Krog antholgy, good stuff. "Ode To Billy Joe" doesn't really suit her, but otherwise yeah: she sounds like she's been around, all the more reason to go for the finer things in life, o baby. The more cosmic (more atmospheric, less earthy), still sensuous tracks later on--fave so far: "Don't Just Sing," with her tonal shifts mirrored and/or aided & abetted by studio and synth effects---rec. to fans of Sheila Jordan, maybe more than Annette Peacock, who's got something of a different (or just more) attitude. Krog sounds smart, sometimes sly, confident, like the lady who runs the detective's favorite bar (might be a bar with weed).

― dow, Wednesday, April 22, 2015 3:09 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Not so crazy about the sax solos on here, but usually she's just got keys, bass, drums, occasionally other percussion, that's all she needs.

― dow, Wednesday, April 22, 2015 3:13 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It def sounds like a bar with weed.

― dow, Wednesday, April 22, 2015 3:14 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

There's an article on her in the new issue of The Wire.

I am liking some of Jose James' new album Yesterday I Had The Blues: The Music of Billie Holiday that features Jason Moran on piano, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Eric Harland, and is produced by David Was. Some of it is too measured and stiff, but other cuts work

i saw a hugely enjoyable outdoor concert by cyrille aimee a couple of weeks ago. brought the house down with her scatting. really into rhythm. the guitars were hot too.

http://bandwidth.wamu.org/first-listen-cecile-mclorin-salvant-for-one-to-love/

Jose James new one is growing on me (plus his older stuff). Still need to listen to new Mclorin Salvant, and track down and try that Karin Krog anthology

Also want to hear the new Lizz Wright, although it might not quite be "jazz." She's working with Joni's colleague-- from the press release Without a doubt, Wright certainly made it happen with Freedom & Surrender, her sexiest, most sensual album yet. She wrote ten of the disc's 15 songs, six with Klein and Batteau. The three penned "The New Game" - the disc's original working title - a rollicking, country-blues ditty with poetic lyrics and verses. The album as a whole touches upon fresher emotional terrain, especially the ethereal, acoustic guitar and Hammond organ-powered "Somewhere Down the Mystic," the beautiful lament "Here and Now," (which was inspired in part by the passing of Maya Angelou), the salty and spiteful "You" and the tender R&B ballad "Blessed the Brave."

Written by Wright, Klein and celebrated songwriter J.D. Souther, "Right Where You Are" is a mesmerizing love slow jam featuring Wright in an amorous duet with Gregory Porter, while "Real Life Painting," written by Wright and Maia Sharp, is a bucolic evocation about dwelling in the momentary carnal bliss of a love affair.

Nina Simone and Anita O'Day

different styles but I love at least 90% of what I've heard.

x-post-- the new Lizz Wright is often kind of a mournful adult r'n'b/neo-soul thing w/ a tinge of Toshi Reagon and also Toshi's Mom's group Sweet Honey in the Rock

Big tribute to Mark Murphy at St. Peter's tomorrow evening for what would have been his 84th birthday, featuring a host of other singers . They are talking about it WBGO right now.

Did ya go?

Happening in an hour or two. Don't know if I would be able to get in.

You gotta hit the lottery and retire and attend all of these events

Ha dontiknowit

Lots of fun photos from that tribute on FB.

a friend of mine went, reported there were nice singing tributes by sheila jordan, kurt elling & jay clayton among others

FB page is called Mark Murphy -Jazz Daddy.

RIP Ernestine Anderson. http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/obituaries/jazz-great-ernestine-anderson-dies/

I'm finding the new Gregory Porter album pretty nice

ctrl-f Terry Callier no matches :(

a little on this thread

terry callier: what do you think of him?

x-post--- Porter has that jazzier Bill Withers thing going nicely

Really enjoying Porter's latest Take Me to the Alley plus his prior one Liquid Spirit,

I hear some Donny Hathaway as well in his voice

Day Dream is a top jam, so is most of the album. Will be checking out some more Porter.

Gregory Porter is at the Howard Theatre in W. DC tonight Monday

Gregory Porter was pretty good at that sold-out almost hour and a half Howard Theatre gig. Didn't catch the names of the bandmembers--piano, bassist (acoustic mostly but electric on a few) and drums. He covered the Temps "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," and did a bit of Sly Stone "Thank You", a number of songs from the new one and various older cuts. He's got a warm Bill Withers meets Donny Hathaway thing going and I like it, plus a bit of jazz scat and swing.

The Jazz Times and Downbeat writers I was talking to at the Jazz Singers exhibit at the Library of Congress, like Porter but love Cecile Mclorin Salvant

Turns out the First Lady was there with gal pals at the Gregory Porter show I saw.

x-post-

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jazz-singers/

the impression I got from Cecile Mclorin Salvant's last album was that she has a wonderful voice + bluesy mannerisms, but she is too much of a stylist and doesn't put enough of herself into the songs.

Still going through Gregory Porter's catalog, will get to Salvant soon

Camila Meza adds some nice vox to the latest Ryan Keberle & Catharsis album. Each song on the album is a tribute to a different South American composer and it is all very nice.

Interesting review of her Traces effort here, will check her singing and guitar playing out:

http://www.popmatters.com/review/camila-meza-traces/

Traces is her third outing as a leader but her first in New York. The trio behind her (Shai Maestro on keys, Matt Penman on bass, and Kendrick Scott’s drums) is fleet and fantastic, and she supplements it with some harmony vocal from Sachal Vasandani, as well as percussion and cello. But at its core, this is a quartet record that puts Meza out front as a singer, a songwriter, and a guitarist — with both strong and appealing ideas in each role.

...That is to say, Meza is not like the talented but oh-so-throwback-sounding Cecile McLorin Savant, whose updating of Sarah Vaughan is big at Jazz at Lincoln Center but sounds unaffected by the last 50 years of jazz singing. Her instrument, however, is less affected than that of Gretchen Parlato, less soul-driven than Somi, and less avant-pop than Cassandra Wilson. Meza manages to suggest her connection to Ella and Joni Mitchell at the same time while being tied to singing from other cultures too. The current singer she reminds me of most may be Luciana Souza, from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

All the players on that Catharsis record are super nice people in addition to being great musicians. Still haven't got around to listening to it myself.

I have just been listening to the velvet huskiness of Pauline Jean (a NYC based singer with Haitian roots) on her Nwayo album, top stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O6ilK9lwHA

Annie Ross is turning 86 tomorrow. Here is a very interesting interview with her from last year:
http://jazztimes.com/articles/167330-a-conversation-with-vocal-legend-annie-ross

killer free show at noon this thursday in Brooklyn with Charenee Wade, Brianna Thomas and Catherine Russell
http://www.bam.org/music/2016/ladies-sing-the-blues
if you dig female vocalists and live in the nyc area, this is not to be missed.

Ah. Would go. But noon doesn't work. Loved hearing Catherine Russell interviewed a few months ago on WBGO on Singers Unlimited, which I am listening to right now, about her mother and her project with Carolyn Leonhart and one other vocalist.

Tanya Hall

Aargh.
La Tanya Hall

Also, don't want to turn into the street team, but Gabrielle Stravelli's Hoagy Carmichael/Johnny Mercer tribute at Kitano the Wednesday before last was killer.

love the shamelessness of old-ilx on here. i own three compact discs and here is my opinion of teh vocal jazz!

You gotta crawl before you can creep, don't you?

btw, Gregory Porter doing a free show at Celebrate BK this Thursday
http://www.bricartsmedia.org/events-performances/bric-celebrate-brooklyn-festival/gregory-porter-marcus-strickland-twi-life

Still haven't seen him. I may have mentioned on this thread or another that I saw bass player I think he usually uses, Aaron James, as a sub on a Junior Mance gig and he killed it.

watched this recently. short film. i dug the rehearsal stuff with her group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Weuqez4HfJ8

xp Porter's okay; a little too mellow for me but the Rawls-level of quality is kinda undeniable.
Curious to see Marcus Strickland live.

You'll just have to make do with Gregory Porter singing "Holding On" with Brit electro act Disclosure

the impression I got from Cecile Mclorin Salvant's last album was that she has a wonderful voice + bluesy mannerisms, but she is too much of a stylist and doesn't put enough of herself into the songs.

― calzino, Thursday, June 9, 2016 9:06 PM (ten months ago)

Saw her live last night with her pianist Aaron Diehl. Voice and choice of songs sounded great live. She is definitely a musical theatre type but with a strong gutbucket bluesy passion, and in introducing the songs always mentioned the lyrical messages. 2 Jelly Roll Morton ones, 3 or 4 Cole Porter, Gershwin from Porgy & Bess, a Nancy Wilson number and more

i love her to death but i prob have already said this.

I'm a big Helen Merrill fan. Anyone else?
― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Sunday, March 13, 2005 8:46 AM (twelve years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The self titled Helen Merrill album with Clifford Brown is sublime. "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" is so yummy.
― todd (todd), Sunday, March 13, 2005 3:50 PM (twelve years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Helen Merrill is incredible. I found a really nice copy of this Japanese vinyl box set of her complete Mercury recordings. She was (and still is!) a treasure, super underrated.

https://www.music-bazaar.com/album-images/vol16/783/783097/2636714-big/The-Complete-Helen-Merrill-On-Mercury-CD1-cover.jpg

who a friend recommended Helen Merrill to me this afternoon, specifically w/Clifford Brown, tonight I look here and that ol' ILM magic strikes again *serendipity*

i meant wow not who

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41S5K809HFL.jpg

Huh will have to checkbout merrill

Wtf

She has one child, known professionally as Alan Merrill, by her first marriage. A singer and songwriter, who wrote and recorded the original (1975) version of the rock classic "I Love Rock N Roll" as lead vocalist of Arrows, the British band.

Also check her albums with Gil Evans and Stan Getz.

listening to both the new Cecile McLorin Salvant and Zara McFarlane albums today, and loving both of them so far.

Gilles Peterson has been pushing Zara McFarlane a lot on his 6Music show. She's also on his record label...hmmm.
I'm currently enjoying Oscar Jerome (another Moses Boyd collaborator): a bit of a John Martynish thing going on.

I don't feel so guilty about leeching it off slsk now :p

I have a weirdly negative visceral reaction to lush, velvety jazz vocal records, like Ella with big band stuff -- she's an undeniably brilliant singer, but I just don't enjoy listening. I love Louis Armstrong's vocals on the early hot fives and sevens records but I feel the same way about his later more hi-fi recordings as I do about Ella's. Generally it's pretty rare that I feel an urge to put on a jazz vocals record.

Salvant album has been a regular joy for me since it came out... takes awhile to blossom imo but is a likely best of the year contender

I felt her last album was a bit too mannered or something, but the live album format has been a much better showcase for vocal talents imo.
xp
Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie was the album that converted this Ella agnostic.

i agree with you on salvant calzino, last album was a bit disappointing.
she's spectacular in person live btw

currently chilling to Natasha Agrama's The Heart Of Infinite Change.

The Hilary Gardner/Ehud Asherie album The Late Set is some really elegant + classy torch singer/piano versions of lesser known American Standards. Nice!

Ooh, this is nice! Thanks for the tip.

Yes. Nice enough

May be time to head up to the Metropolitan Room to see Annie Ross again

there is no metropolitan room! they're doing stuff at the Triad and moving, but haven't announced where to yet. Ross not on the lineup atm.

Cecile got a MacArthur grant
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/arts/macarthur-genius-grant-winners-list.html

Wow.

Trying to work out what Abbey Lincoln I need to get after finding out there were reissues of the turn of teh 60s solo recordings.
Now finding ot that the early 70s People In Me was reissued in the 90s.
& know nothing about the later stuff.

JUst did know taht her stuff on Max Roach's lps was pretty amazing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF6q6XKKrik

Abbey Is Blue
You Gotta Pay the Band

the latter featuring lots of great original tunes of hers.

Bought a 2018 4 classic lps with the 4 lps from the turn of the 60s together. it skipped the very first lp which is apparently more orchestrated than the small group jazz lps featuring some interesting players.

so have Abbey IS Blue due in a week or so.

Will look at the You Gota Pay The Band set definitely.
Not sure why I didn't look into this ages ago cos I must have got teh set with the band playing Freedom Now Suite on European tv about 10 years ago. & had definitely rediscovered Driva Man a few years ago.

Painted Lady is great too

i've never heard a bad abbey lincoln album; her late era stuff is worth the trouble as well! i recall liking A Turtle's Dream from '95 and You Gotta Pay the Band from '91.
But of course Abbey is Blue and Freedom Now and We Insist and It's Time and anything she's ever done with Roach are all utterly essential.
Pleased that this thread alerted me to the spotify existence of a 100+ song collection of Abbey's work with Verve that came out in February

Get Straight Ahead ASAP!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B60tL9LdnbM

It's in that 4 lps on 2cd set
alongside Abbey Is Blue, It's Magic and That's Him.
Cheap set but I think it's also what I have the Max roach material with her on in.

Have heard People in Me referred to as Spiritual Jazz which I'm not sure fits but would have made sense of where i thought she would be at in the early 70s after doing a lot of activism and stuff. Read a story about her travelling with Miriam Makeba in the early 70s after splitting up with Roach and having a breakdown and things. Interesting artist.

she died right before i had a chance to see her do a full live show, real regret.

This is not her jazziest moment, but I don't know where else to put this since there's no Rosemary Clooney thread. It's a video I've wondered about for decades - where I saw it, what the hell it was, etc. Rosemary Clooney lip-syncing "Come On-a My House" at a new wave party. From a Steve Martin comedy-variety special called Twilight Theater that was broadcast once or twice in 1982 in the SNL time slot. She comes in just after the 2 minute mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x8Uxmc9AOE

Love Rosemary Clooney. Her jazziest moment was with Duke and especially Billy Strayhorn along with some "Giant Step" changes avant la lettre!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO6dX15GmpM

that clooney freakout disco is really something.

nice, ^ that is great xp

(“blue rose”)

lol at this album cover:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c4/Roseriddle.jpg/220px-Roseriddle.jpg

Some kind of weird Twin Peaks tie-in I can't parse.
https://chrystabell.com/the-significance-of-the-blue-rose/

This reminds me that I found myself in the odd position of defending Mitch Miller recently.

I guess one could argue Mitch Miller was one of the earliest producers to work through a modern kind of mindset, similar to the way contemporary hitmakers work

Yes, that is what I argued,or rather I borrowed the arguments of others. He also broke the color line by hiring Leslie Uggams.

And maybe that explains why "Come On-a My House" does sort of work as a new wave tune, whereas a Nelson Riddle arrangement would not

Think there is a whole chapter or at least a section on him in Susan Schmidt Horning's Chasing Sound.

I just got a copy of this, it’s super awesome:

https://img.discogs.com/3CMUYQZZAEJTsZPAT3sTePwmMu8=/fit-in/600x597/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-4385407-1573333696-6819.jpeg.jpg

Pony Poindexter = Cannonball Adderly (name changed cuz he was under contract for another label at the time).

fantastic name he used there

some top class scatting as well.

Also of much related interest, covering a lot of ground: RFI: Vocal jazz songform

Oh yeah, and this is cool---can imagiene it as basis of a movie---from the teeming trove of Night Lights archives---stream, download:
https://indianapublicmedia.org/wpimages/nightlights/2011/01/Dick-and-Kiz-Harp.jpg

Dick and Kiz Harp were a husband-and-wife, piano-and-vocals duo who ran their own nightclub (converted from a warehouse and called "The 90th Floor," after a lesser-known Cole Porter song they performed) in Dallas, Texas at the end of the 1950s. They‘ve developed a cult following among jazz-vocal aficionados on the basis of two obscure LPs. The Harps, influenced by artists such as Sylvia Sims, Anita O‘Day, and Dick Marx‘s Chicago trio, came up with their own sound--a blend of cabaret, torch song, and Midwestern camp--riding strongly on Kiz Harp‘s magnetic stage presence and slightly hoarse, soulful voice (a listener described her as "Jeri Southern smoking two packs a day"). Their career ended suddenly and tragically in 1960. We‘ll hear music from both of their albums (available again at 90th Floor Records) and we‘ll talk with Bruce Collier, the founder and owner of 90th Floor Records, who recorded both Harp LPs.

https://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/dick-and-kiz-harp-down-at-the-90th-floor.php

This young singer I saw in the Birdland Theater last night is pretty amazing, she’s like the second coming of Anita O’Day or something.

Name, please?

Anaïs Reno

My friend thought she sounded a little too studied in a video I sent him. I know where he is coming from but she has time to develop, she just turned nineteen, and she sounded great last night.

Will check her out, thx

Enjoyed a randomly purchased compilation of Sarah Vaughan over the last week . Great voice melismatic and all like that so I think I need to know more about her. This was a set of material from mid 50s to early 60s called Her Finest Hour. Pretty divine

Steveolende, check out Live at Mister Kelly's.

Dan, check out her Ellington & Strayhorn album, Lovesome Thing.

Or the new album, which is here:
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kDZ_ZYYbOm_iEJGrOinviQN3qCOQUyh28

First song here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL20ZIlqJ54

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaH3wuAUGs0

live at mister Kelley’s is so damn good, there was something in the air that night

^maybe too inside baseball and not great sound but still, some sort of slice of history. (xp)

And yes, that album is special

Enji is a Mongolian jazz vocalist singer who sounds as if she has listened to some classic Brazilian music

She’s gotten some luv from Bandcamp daily and Chr&s R@chards at Washington Post

Thanks!

A little more hype for a recent fave, as posted on the swinging moldy figs thread:

Best jazz vocal I've heard in a while---lots of folks have the chops and spirit, but there's a world in here, for now:
Kate Kortum - Dreamsville

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btQNuSQZxWM

Anita O'Day, "Early Autumn"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf5DThAr-_A

Grammys nominees for Feb 2024 awards

30. Best Jazz Vocal Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal jazz recordings.

For Ella 2
Patti Austin Featuring Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band

Alive At The Village Vanguard
Fred Hersch & Esperanza Spalding

Lean In
Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke

Mélusine
Cécile McLorin Salvant

How Love Begins
Nicole Zuraitis

Last night I was livestreaming the St. Peter’s tribute to drummer Jackie Williams who passed away recently and saw a vocalist performing I think I should be paying more attention to.

Also wow that Nicole Zuraitis got a Grammy nomination. She always seems really nice when I’ve crossed her path but I haven’t listened to any of her recordings.

Sonica, that is the project I have seen her in, with Thana Alexa and Julia Adamy.

From 2011, but just recently heard for first time: a really distinctive presentation of "Weightless," title track of album by the Becca Stevens Band (she's recently done something w Jacob Collier):
https://beccastevensband.bandcamp.com/album/weightless

a video, even:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk_qfA9YIxg

Singer I was talking about was Marty Elkins.

X post - Have not heard Nicole Zuraitis , Grammy nominee, yet either

https://hullworks.net/jazzpoll/23/totals-vocal.php

2023 Totals: Vocal Jazz
Critics were asked to name one album apiece, with no point system.

Cécile McLorin Salvant, Mélusine (Nonesuch) 27
Jo Lawry, Acrobats (Whirlwind) 11
Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke, Lean In (Edition) 10
Fred Hersch & Esperanza Spalding, Alive at the Village Vanguard (Palmetto) 9
Arooj Aftab-Vijay Iyer-Shahzad Ismaily, Love in Exile (Verve) 5
Matana Roberts, Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden (Constellation) 4
Fay Victor, Blackity Black Black Is Beautiful (Northern Spy) 4
Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter, SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree (Edition) 3
Irreversible Entanglements, Protect Your Light (Impulse!) 3
John Pizzarelli, Stage & Screen (Palmetto) 3
Michael Bisio & Timothy Hill, Inside Voice/Outside Voice (Origin) 2
Samara Joy, Linger Awhile (Verve '22) 2
Karina Kozhevnikova & Krugly Band, Polyphonic Circle (Leo) 2
Astghik Martirosyan, Distance (Astghik Music) 2
Joshua Redman, Where Are We (Blue Note) 2
Säje, Säje (Säjevoices) 2
Sara Serpa & André Matos, Night Birds (Robalo Music) 2
Luciana Souza & Trio Corrente, Cometa (Sunnyside) 2
Susanna, Baudelaire & Orchestra (SusannaSonata) 2
Libby York, Dreamland (OA2) 2