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Best female vocal recording on CD?

i am a sucker for great warm rich smooth female vocalists, especially on tube gear and speakers that image well. but i am almost always faced with a great voice/song but a sonically inferior recording (examples too numerous to list) or a great recording of a mediocre voice.  rickie lee jones (pop pop) comes to mind- fab recording, but come on lets be honest about her voice. however, i will almost always pick great recordings and leave the bad recordings for the car.

 so i am asking for what you use as a reference female vocal recording/track. right now i come back tp bonnie raitt "you cant make me love you" from luck of the draw.  big, warm, strong voice. not a perfect recording. but hmmmm that voice.

my only requirement is it has to be on CD. and we all know of great vinyl that did not translate into great CDs.  so help me out here, what should be my next music purchase 
meiatflask
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meiatflask OP
151 posts
 
Thanks - lots of artists to explore. As I look over the suggestions, some people just gave artists. With multiple album possibilities, how about specific albums from some of these artists?  (which disc should I buy first?)  And as we all know, even on very good recordings, some tracks are better than others.  Are their specific tracks that are just plain superior recordings?  You know, the track you go to when you first put the disc in. 

As an aside and going back to my original thoughts, I put rickie lee jones pop pop album - "dat dere" track on this morning.  While my comment on her voice still stands, I had forgotten just how great  the recording is: the instruments, percussion other voices, precise imaging, size of soundstage.  Still wows me.  Now I just need to find that recording quality with one of these new artists that people are suggesting.

Bill
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
Some suggestions from the folk genre (as you might expect)
  • Mary Chapin Carpenter -- maybe start with "Between Here and Gone" or "Stones in the Road"
  • Nanci Griffith -- "Other Voices, Other Rooms: her covers CD is a great mix, or try "Flyer" if you want a more pop mastering
  • Sandy Denny -- invest in the "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" 3CD box on Hannibal or the more recent 19CD (!) complete box set
  • Mandy Morton -- we're now getting more obscure, first came to fame with Spriguns but well worth looking for the "Sea of Storms/Valley of Light" combo CD
  • June Tabor -- a classic folk voice -- start with "Airs and Graces" then maybe jump forward to "Against the Streams" (I love "Apples and Potatoes")
  • And finally to bring you bang up to date invest in a copy of "The Elizabethan Session" and get into Bella Hardy and Nancy Kerr in some impeccably well recorded new songs inspired by the Elizabethan age


tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
Beg to differ with you Czarivey, I don't consider Patricia a boring audiophile artist. She has some quite formidable jazz arrangements that put her into the class of unique IMHO. She's pretty good, try her live in France album and enjoy, if this is possible :), I used to feel the same but she has really grown on me the more I listen.
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 

Another vote for Holly Cole. Have a few of her albums, favorite is, "Temptation". All tracks are covers of Tom Waits songs.

winoguy17
1,119 posts
 
Hope Waits.  You're welcome.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 

Old favorites of mine are Maryann Price and Naomi Ruth Eisenberg, the two singers of Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks in the 1970’s. They’re great on the studio-recorded Striking It Rich and the recorded-live-at-The Troubadour Where’s The Money? As a bonus, both are unusually good sounding recordings.

And then there are all the Iris Dement albums. I would love them no matter the sound quality, but fortunately they’re pretty good. I used her My Life album as a demo source at CES in the late 90’s.

czarivey
5,946 posts
 
There are plenty of 'audiophile oriented' boring artists:
Diana Krall
Patricia Barber
Norah Jones,

But there others you might not know with excellent recording and performing qualities:

LHasa De Sela
Melody Gardot
Don't pass on 4AD titles such as This Mortal Coil and Cockteau Twins
jbhiller's avatar
jbhiller
1,403 posts
 
Melody Gardot, Can't Buy a Thrill
tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
I would also highly recommend the late Shirley Horn as well as Melody Gardot.

The Burn Sisters recommendation made me think of the Roaches an  Irish sister trio from NJ. Great harmonies with some really quirky lyrics.
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,589 posts
 

Emmylou Harris: Songbird: Rare Tracks & Forgotten Gems (4CD)

4 cds for under $30. If there isn’t something in this set that reaches deep inside, you have no soul. Start with disc 2 if you’re not familiar with Emmylou.

Sarah Jarosz - Undercurrent, is very good

The Burns Sisters - Wild Bouquet, folk/rock with beautiful voices and harmonies. Start with this one of their cds for sound quality.

dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
Been enjoying Katie Melua lately, especially the Piece by Piece CD.

Holy Cole too.

Dave
ahendler
416 posts
 
Any of the several Jacintha recordings
Also Eva Cassidy
Alan
sevs
301 posts
 
Joni Mitchell, Patricia Barber, Diana Krall and Norah Jones are the "evident suspects" here... Well overdone at each hi-end show...
I go with Mme Butterfly or Lisa Gerrard/Dead Can Dance or my fav Cocteau Twins (Elizabeth Frazer) to nurture my deeply disturbed ego ;-( 
try Head Over Heels, if you won't get disturbed I will refund your purchase!... :-)
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