Female vocalist recommendations


My morning routine starts at 530/am. Light breakfast, and my morning tea.

I then power up my audio system and listen to my morning favorites.

I love soothing female vocalists at this time of the morning.

Here are some of my favorites- Norah Jones-Jacintha-Abigail Lapell-Amber Rubarth-Anette Askvik-Margo Timmins-etc

I'm really looking for some other recommendations by the great minds on Agon.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated....and great recordings are a bonus.

Thanks in advance.

 

krelldog

By far my favorite female singer is Eva Cassidy. It is so sad that she passed away at age 33 in 1996. I have all of her published albums.  

Really good list!  Any recommendations of female vocalists in an up tempo format?

 

@blackbag20 haha. Imagine if the OP took that advice not knowing who geddy is! I would pay to see the reaction.

Seeing you like Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span is similar, one of their lesser known albums Hark the Village Wait has two female vocalists:

Steeleye span - lowlands of Holland - YouTube

And only really like one of her albums Sarah McLachlan's Fumbling Towards ecstasy 

Sarah Mclachlan - 01 Possession - YouTube

And 2nd that Hank Dogs 'Bareback' album, two vocalists in the Fairport style:

Hank Dogs--18 Dogs - YouTube

Roberta Flack

Amanda McBroom

Cassandra Wilson

Nora Jones

Jenn Adams

Sade

 

And so many more that I can’t think of at the moment…

 

Let me add this one --

Lisa Fisher demonstrates a truly AWESOME vocal range in this live performance of Look of Love with Chris Botti.

 

Marianne Faithful - Strange Weather & Blazing Away are good starting places; Bill Frisell is a featured guitarist, among other virtuosos.

Linda Thompson (Richard’s ex) - Dreams Fly Away is a good place to start; her and Richard’s albums Pour Down Like Silver, etc. are masterpieces.

@krelldog 

In no particular order, they are all amazing: 

Diana Krall, Roxanne Potvin, Diana Wynter Gordon, Marina Celeste, Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Sandra Szabo, Donna Summer, Dream (band), Carly Rae Jepsen, Avril Lavinge, Gwen Stefani, Natalie Imbruglia, Madonna, Taylor Swift ... etc. 

 

 

My earlier post was made in response to what I thought the op was asking for: "soothing" early-morning listening. If it’s female singers for any time of the day (or mood), that’s a whole ’nother matter.

Rarely mentioned here are the great female R & B singers of the 50’s and 60’s (and later), who are the antithesis of soothing (they are the female version of male Blues "shouters" such as Big Joe Turner, whom I had the thrill of a lifetime to hear live on stage in the mid-80’s, backed by The Blasters.).

 

-Ruth Brown (one of Bonnie Raitt’s favorites)

- Darlene Love (listen to her sing "Christmas [Baby Please Come Home]" on the Phil Spector Christmas album. Hair-raising!)

- LaVern Baker

- Etta James

- Arlene Smith (of The Chantels. Listen to her incendiary vocal on the group’s astounding recording of "Maybe"!)

- Irma Thomas

- Merry Clayton (the singer of "Rape! Murder!" on The Stones "Gimme Shelter". Mick only wishes he could sing with the power of Merry. ;-)

- Aretha Franklin, of course

- Mavis Staples (heard singing a verse in "The Weight" during the ending sequence in The Band’s Last Waltz film. More recently she has made a number of albums produced by the likes of Ry Cooder and Jeff Tweedy [Mavis and Tweedy?!]. Plus she and Levon Helm recorded together in Levon’s Barn studio in 2011, the recordings finally released on a 2-LP set in 2022).

- Big Maybelle (it was her version of "Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On" that inspired Jerry Lee Lewis to record the song five years after her).

- Big Mama Thornton (it was her version of "Hound Dog" [written by the great, great Rock ’n’ Roll songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller] that inspired Elvis Presley to record the song four years later).

 

There are of course many others, but let me bring to your attention a more contemporary singer of note: Lou Ann Barton.

Lou Ann was the original lead singer of a little 5-pc. combo named Triple Threat Revue that was playing around Austin Texas in 1977. The band’s lead guitarist was a guy named Stevie Ray Vaughan, then known more for being Jimmie Vaughan’s younger brother than for his guitar playing. When founding member W.C. Clark left the band they changed their name to Double Trouble, the name taken because of the band’s two front persons: Lou Ann on vocals, Stevie of course on guitar.

Lou Ann left Double Trouble in late-’79, and Stevie kept the name for his now 2-pc. back-up band, with him taking over vocal chores. Lou Ann came to the attention of Jerry Wexler (Atlantic Record’s in-house record producer) during her 1980 tenure in Roomfull Of Blues, and he got her a record deal on Asylum Records and produced her debut album, Old Enough. Jerry took Lou Ann down to Alabama to record, with her backing musicians including the fantastic studio band The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, with the incredible drummer & bassist team of Roger Hawkins & David Hood. Old Enough is a fantastic album, one I consider essential.

Lou Ann went on to record a number of other albums, and frequently joins Jimmie Vaughan on the road, he featuring her for a good portion of his live show. Lou Ann is as cool as chicks come ;-) .

 

For a more modern sound, try both Lizzy McApline and Freya Ridings. Lizzy is a singer/songwriter vibe and Freya simply has an amazing voice. 

Susan Tedeschi has a great voice IMO.

Two other women are worth mentioning tough they are not light listening:  Amy Lee (Evanescence)  Lizzy Hale (Halestorm)

Lotta good voices mentioned; love listening to Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, and Sheryl Crow. Names not seen that I enjoy include Nanci Griffith, Susan Tedeschi of the Tedeschi Trucks band, and Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief.

As mentioned twice before, I am going to give the recommendation of Katie Melua.

I just literally came across this artist just a few weeks ago by accident really and so glad I found out about her.

Immediately I ordered her CD, Ultimate Collection from Amazon and so glad I did.

Perfect CD for early morning listening.

When it comes to soothing female vocals, lots of great suggestions above. My favorite go to early morning and late night soothing female vocals has to be Helen Merrill, particularly the ‘Helen Merrill with Clifford Brown and Gil Evans’ album. 
 

From the modern era … Melody Gardot and Norah Jones. 

 

3 ECM  label extraordinary female voices

Susanne Abbuehl     Swiss Jazz singer 

Sabina Yannatou.   Greek  Folk singer

Amina Alaoui. Moroccan Arabic-Andalusia traditional singer

 

Other labels 

Amira Medunjanin   Bosnian Jazz and fantastic Sevdah singer

Bévinda        French/Portuguese great Fado singer

Silvia Pérez Cruz     Spanish unique Flamenco fusion singer

Youn Sun Nah    Korean Jazz singer

Michelle Gurevich.      Canadian brilliant singer/sonwriter

Frazey Ford......(Solo artist out of the Be Good Tanyas..)    ...   The Unthanks....a sister group doing hauntingly beautifully English Folk...plus the Saddest version of King Crinson' s "Starless" that has ever been recorded!!!.... Julie Miller( Buddy Miller's wife)....

Ella Fitzgerald

Jill Scott

Diana Krall

Nina Simone

Erykah Badu

Norah Jones

Sarah Vaughan

Dinah Washington

There are so many more and I could continue but I have to add Dana Owens aka Queen Latifah *her jazz work is solid!

 

 Didn't see Linda Ronstadt or Tori Amos. Linda has the best voice ever, what ever genre she sings. Sadly Parkinsons disease has muted her extraordinary voice. In my view, Tori is nipping at her heels. My two cents. 

Has Alanis Morissette been mentioned?

That I would be good and Thank U are great tunes  Sings her heart out.

 

 

Hi all. First time post for me and all the female singers I’ve seen recommended on Agon I haven’t seen Sally Oldfield’s name yet. Fantastic singer that will really test your system. Thanks. 

In short rotation this week- Monday--Norah Jones -Feels Like Home

Tuesday-Sarah Jarosz--Undercurrent

Wednesday- Jacintha- Fire and Rain

Thursday- Abigail Lapell -Hide nor Hair and Stolen Time

If you get a chance check out Abigail Lapell absolutely fabulous and a great recording.

I have long been a fan of Shawn Colvin but somehow missed her 2019 acoustic remake of her debut album Steady On. It’s just her singing and playing guitar. Just listening to it tonight and am blown away again by her talent. If you like female vocalists, and especially singer/songwriters, please give this a listen.