Best female vocals on CD

Might be interesting to start another thread following up on this one, maybe call it the "Damn shame" thread and list all the people with incredible vocal gifts that have wasted them with bad choices of material and arrangement. Could start off with Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey ana Leann Rimes. Any other contenders?

If you like Iris DeMent, Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris I'd strongly recommend you try Gillian Welch. She has a voice that is startling at first but one of the most compelling I've ever heard after repeated listening. Try her 'Revival' CD or her version of 'Hickory Wind' on the 'Return of the Grevous Angel' Gram Parsons tribute album.

Philefreak, thanks for the tip about Shana Morrison. I've been forcing people to listen to her back-up singing on Van's "Days Like This" CD for a couple of years and wondering when it would be possible to hear her solo. I've seen Van Morrison live several times and listened to his CD's hundreds of times and hers is the only voice or instrument that can hold its own with him. Anybody who can listen to the two of them sing "You Don't Know Me" with dry eyes is a cold MF.