Best female vocals on CD

For those of you who consider Diana Krall a great vocalist, it wasn't so offensive, it would be laughable. She is a passable singer whose record company is trying to push her as a singer in order to maximize her marketability. How would you rate her next to Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn or Nancy Wilson? Even someone like Natalie Cole, who stands between jazz and pop music completely eclipses her as a vocalist. She has no vocal range and little capability to reinterpret a song in a way to "make it her own". She is an excellent pianist, with a sweet, limited voice. and she looks good on the front of a CD. Many of her CD's have stunning sound. That's it.

When one compares Diana Krall as a singer to the great jazz singers of all time, can someone please tell me what she brings to a song that the others don't? As far as I am concerned, she brings almost no interpretation, no phrasing, no vocal control, no style. It is not enough, or should not be enough to have a husky, lush voice which is well recorded. Her producer, Tommy Lipuma and engineer worked on Natalie Cole's CD "Take A Look" which is also excellently recorded. But aside from that, it does display what Natalie Cole can do with a song. Even though not a pure jazz singer, Natalie has a big pure voice, she can hit notes right on, and she can make vocal changes which can personalize a song in the way that Diana Krall can't. And I don't think Natalie is one of the greats. Diana's inability to make the vocal changes which personalize her vocal repertoire is particularly evident in that D.K. sings a lot of jazz standards and for every song she has recorded, there are other renditions available which are not challenged by her interpretations. As a jazz singer she is lacking vocal improvisational ability. This is something that Ella did not lack for. Ella Fitzgerald, probably the greatest popular singer of the twentieth century, invented whole vocal styles of singing. Of course there are other great singers in and out of jazz. I don't want to pit all my choices against everyone else's but if Diana Krall is a great vocalist, one should be able to verbalize something beyond that her voice is "pleasing" or "exciting". I understand that the appreciation of music is a subjective experience but since it is subjective, the need to comunicate this experience almost compels us to share the "why" as well as the "who" in whom we choose. What is it that D.K. does vocally hat puts her in the upper echelons of the female singers who have ever been recorded?

For Jazz fans: Check out Dee Dee Bridgewater. The CD is "Live at Yoshi's". This is an absolutely stunning CD both musically and artistically. She shows off her entire vocal repertoire from soft delicate ballads to belting out raw, powerful songs to scat singing. She is backed by talented, but not well-kown musicians. The dynamics on this CD are beyond anything I have ever heard on a commercial recording. Listen to the tambourine in the opening on track 2 "Slow Boat to China".

OK Craig. I cry uncle. I certainly don't mean to discourage anyone from trying any artist and I certainly don't see you as intellectually or emotionally limited. But, I have listened to a number of D.K.'s CD's to see what all the fuss was about. And other than the recording quality, I still don't understand it. I just thought that guys like you who like her might be willing to share in a little detail why you do with infidels like me.

Very succinctly and eloquently stated, Redkiwi. I will nominate someone outside of Jazz whom I have not seen mentioned: Aretha Franklin. Maybe she doesn't belong in this thread because I find her CD's to be sonically not the best and she has clearly lost a lot off her voice in recent years... but in her time, as a singer who could sing in any genre, hit all the notes and still carry the audience with her, there was no one better. She also has had one of the longest careers of any female singer which is some evidence that she belongs way up there. I would say that some of her greatest work is not all that well known, even though she has sold a ton of records. Some of those big sellers were unremarkable. I put her at the top of my list just below Ella Fitzgerald. I would say that in rating singers, a mixture of things count for me, Craig. Their technical and vocal ability for sure (my analytical side). The songs they choose to sing. Are the lyrics about something to which I can relate? Their ability to bring something new and original to an old song. Does this originality improve or freshen the song? Lastly, do the music and vocals excite or grab me? With no disrespect to anyone else's method of judgment, it takes several of these ingredients in various combination to get my musical attention.

I don't know the music of Leann Rimes well enough to comment, but I absolutely agree with Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey as being in the "damn shame" category. Here are two women with outstanding vocal instruments and very few memorable songs between them. Hopefully as they mature they will achieve a better perspective brought about by concern for their "place in history". Although it looks like Whitney has more worldly problems to worry about now.