Kendra Smith
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
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
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I’m sure I messaged here, not gonna look. Lee Aaron’s last 4-5 albums. Even her early stuff I love, as it’s hard rock/metal. Her newer stuff is sublime, what a voice! still one of the most beautiful women I have gazed upon. She sells signed CDs and stuff, she is an amazing singer, I love the older metal stuff, but her new stuff is simply stellar! One of the best smoky voices I’ve heard in a long time. |
All the old les paul mary ford albums were made for tube gear..
Les Paul & Mary Ford - Les Paul & Mary Ford (Full Album) - YouTube
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These are some of my favorite CDs, all amazing voices: Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis (hybrid SACD) Cassandra Wilson - Blue Light Til Dawn Sandy Denny - No More Sad Refrains: The Anthology Sarah McLachlan - Solace (hybrid SACD) Aretha Franklin - Aretha’s Gold (hybrid SACD) Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Sessions Rhiannon Giddens - Tomorrow Is My Turn Allison Russell - Outside Child Loreena McKennitt - The Book of Secrets |
Lots of outstanding picks however I can’t believe not one mention of Ella Fitzgerald,...This one is a stand out , Clap Hands Here Cones Charlie .A absolutely fantastic reissue recorded by engineer Dennis Drake Verve 835 646-2 , you will not find a better sounding recording of Clap Hands on any original Lp including the multiples of the reissues throughout the decades and none of the so labeled high price Audiophile failed attempts on CD or SACD can touch Dennis Drakes work.,,Easily found for peanuts. |
Calvin - yes Cecile Mclorin Salvant Womanchild Fantastic! Tooblue - you are right, Patricia Barber, Diana Krall and Nora Jones are also Fantastic. Boring? Really? To who? Eva Cassidy - breathtakingly beautiful as some pointed out Anything by Joni Mitchell "Blue" is out of this world Aretha Franklin - Has there ever been a woman with a more soulful voice? Lisa Gerrard - Tremendous I am going to add Alison Krauss. Has anybody heard " Ghost in this house". https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dWRGZaHb8xE |
So many great suggestions here, many that I already enjoy and many more I've not heard. I just ordered 10 new cd's based on the suggestions here. I don't want to repeat many of my favs already mentioned but here are some I don't think I've seen mentioned here: Lydia Loveless, Real Connie Evingson, Gypsy in my Soul Jeannie Bryson, Tonight I Need You So Jen Chapman, Open Wide Haley Westerns, Pure Diane Birch, Speak A Little Louder enjoy! |
Two observations on this thread. Firstly, aren't we fortunate that there are so many great female vocalists around. All the way through this thread, I have been thinking, "Oh yes, I forgot her". There are just so many around, most of them never get played or listened to, in our world of compressed Pop and manufactured artists, boy bands, TV competition winners. Secondly, how separate most countries are, in terms of music availability. Many of the US artists mentioned I have not heard of and when I look on Amazon, are largely unavailable, or cost £50 a CD. Yes I know with Tidal, Spotify etc, so much more is available to us, but what if you want the physical discs? |
What surprises Jennifer Warnes, "The Hunter" Sara K, "Waterfalls" (Just wonderful recording, on Stockfisch) Shawn Colvin,, "Fat City", "All Fall Down", but any really Kate Rusby "Underneath the Stars", "Hourglass", but again anything, a great English Folk singer. Jonatha Brooke "10c Wings" |
Ok, I’ve come back with new discoveries, I think you need a female voice, a piano playing, and your ears to listen to these 2 songs to complete a story and journey on your own, note that the recording is not available on YouTube, you can try download somewhere else: Akiko Yano (矢野顕子) - 中央線 Akiko Yano (矢野顕子) - Prayer |
THE SOPRANO Arleen Auger possessed a pure-toned voice of great flexibility and absolute accuracy of intonation. She excelled in the music of Monteverdi, Bach, Gluck, Haydn, Handel and in particular of Mozart, but also sang works by 20th-century composers such as Carl Orff with great success. Also consider the amazing Dutch soprano Elly Ameling and the very fine American Barbara Bonney. Don't let the idea that these are "Classical" artists keep you from your investigation. Like a fine Scotch or Beer, although new and distinctive at first they will soon become favorites. |
+1 Holy Cole, Eva Cassidy, Melody Gardot, Cassandra Wilson, Paula Cole, Patricia Barber, and most others mentioned. My rotation this past week has included Lydia Gray, Anne Bisson, Vanessa Fernandez, Erin Bode, Tori Amos, Gretchen Perlato, Lhasa, Rachel Z, Karrin Allyson, Eden Brent, Patty Carpenter, Amanda Carr, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Karen Lovely, Ruthie Foster, Valerie Joyce, Stacey Kent, Ana Caram, Beth Hart, Janis Ian, Rickie Lee Jones, Josi Davis, Connie Evingson, Astrud Gilberto, Billy Lee Hart, Barbara Jungr, Katia Labeque, k.d. Lang, Allyson Krauss, Claire MArlo, Sophie Milman, Jane Monheit, The Nields (sisters), Madeleine Peyroux, Ambar Rubart, Mary Stallings, Susan Tedeschi, DAr Williams, Lucinda Williams. All CDs. Fine voices, arrangements, performances and recording production (not heavy handed post production). Probably a few more that I can't recall. I am retired, music plays 12-16 hours every day when I am home. I have a 4K plus CD collection (and vinyl which I rarely bother with) which is a drop in the bucket of talent. I felt guilty mentioning these folks because there are so many others. |
Here's my current top 10 not in order: Beth Orton- Pass in Time KT Tunstall- Invisible Empire Laura Marling- A Creature I don't know MaMuse- Integration of the Awkward Natalie Merchant- Paradise is there Rachel Sage- Blue Rose Shelby Lynn- Suit yourself & I can't imagine Sophie Barker- A Rare Collection of songs Vienna Teng- Warm Strangers Ayleen O'Hanlon- Blend and spill |
Hi guys, here's my list, in no particular order: 1. Karen Dalton - In My Own Time 2. Karen Dalton - Its So Hard To Tell Who's Going to Love You the Best 3. Laura Nyro - New York Tendaberry 4. Joan Baez - 5 5. Joan Baez - David's Album 6. Joan Baez - Blessed Are 7. Richard and Mimi Farina (Joan's kid sister) - Memories 8. Joan Armatrading - 1st album 9. Judy Collins - Colors of the Day 10. Tracy Chapman - 1st album 11. Sibylle Baier - Colour Green 12. Joni Mitchell - 1st album 13. Joni Mitchell - Ladies of the Canyon 14. Marissa Nadler - Little Hells 15. Maxine Sullivan - on Period Records, SPL 1207 16. Amy Winehouse - Hidden Treasures 17. Eva Cassidy - the 4 LP set Live at Blues Alley 18. Sade - Any of her first three albums 19. Wanda Jackson - Right or Wrong 20. Black Orpheus - Soundtrack, listed here for that ONE SONG on side two 21. Kiri te Kanawa - Blue Skies 22. Emmylou Harris - Luxury Liner 23. Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris - Grievous Angel 24. Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris - GP 25. Tona la Negra - La Sensacion Jarocha 26. Blanca Rosa Gil - La Triunfadora de Cuba 27. La Lupe - La Lupe Es La Reina 28. Billy Holiday - Songs for Distingue Lovers 28. Billy Holiday - Lady in Satin 29. Joy of Cooking - Closer to the Ground 30. Janis Joplin - In Concert That should get you going. I know that you asked for CD, but as I have 5,000+ LPs and a handful of CDs, I'm speaking for the VINYL LP issues of these recordings only and bothered to list them because these disks deserve a listening regardless of how well they were digitized. I suspect that, except for the Latin LPs, they are at least "VG+" to "EX". The Gil is "VG+" on both LP and CD, an outstanding bolero set from Hialea. Regards - |
Siris Svale - Blackbird (Norwegian jazz singer with a beautifully twisted sense of songs - excellent recording and great music) Mariza - Fado (originally from Mozambique of African & Portuguese ancestry, she's brought the ancient sound of Fado into the 21st century - decent recording, great musicality) |
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.That's exactly the song I'd recommend. You can tell how great Bonnie Raitt is when you compare her to Adele's version of that song. Adele absolutely butchers it. Definitely one of my references. I'll tell you right now, I don't get the audiophile fare (Diana Krall, Norah Jones, etc.). I just don't think their voices are that good ... I don't care how good their recordings are. So take that into consideration when viewing my reference material. Dream of the Archer by Heart (remaster). Hard to beat Ann Wilson in her prime. You might be sick of it, but there's no denying that Celine Dion shines on My Heart Will Go On (Titanic theme). I dislike Mariah Carey's breathy singing, but believe it or not, she was actually a hell of a powerful singer on her first album. Check out the song Vision of Love. And you might not like the rest of the album because it's metal with Beauty and the Beast vocals, but the song Sunlight by Oceans of Slumber is just excellent clean female vocals. Also metal (but this song doesn't sound like it), I like the atmospheric breathy detail of Trees of Eternity's singer, Aleah. Try the song Sinking Ships. It sounds like your ear is next to the microphone. And, while not vocal perfection, I do like the smokey vocals of Sade's Cherish The Day. |
