exceptional voices of female singers (non-classical)


What I'm talking about here is what critics of classical singing refer to as "the instrument": the exceptional beauty or uniqueness of the timbre of the voice qua voice.  For the moment, put aside preferences w.r.t. repertoire, interpretation, performance, style, delivery, etc., and just consider the *sound* of the voice.  We're *not* talking about favorite female artists here, because that kind of preference is based on a whole amalgam of factors.

I suspect some of the top figures in the category I've tried to define often aren't very popular among audiophiles, because of those many other factors.

My first three nominations: Barbra Streisand, Linda Ronstadt, Eva Cassidy.

128x128twoleftears

Showing 2 responses by tablejockey

"Actually "Ella" was mentioned by the very first poster....@jerroot "

slaw, Hah! MY blood pressure has now gone down... It would help if I read MORE carefully before posting an emotional response!


"For uniqueness, Rickie Lee Jones and Ella."
Maybe I didn’t notice because Ella WASN’T listed as first in that lineup.
Kinda think she shouldn’t even be in that same sentence. I do enjoy RLJ, but really, it just seems like an honorable mention by the poster.




GOOD GRIEF!

I can't believe its taken this long for someone mention ELLA FITZGERALD!

Must be a generation thing?

Absolutely NO list of American female vocalists should ever exclude our FIRST LADY OF SONG! The American Songbook would never be what it is without  ELLA.

Google "first lady of song" and guess who?

Yeah, her glory days were pre 70's, but real magic doesn't fade away......
THE HORROR!