Help me make an old meets new Jazz mix CD

December 1, 2006 11:58 AM

Looking for great vocal jazz standards sung by NOT the most obvious Jazz singers -OR- the obvious Jazz singers doing unique or non-standard Jazzy songs.

I am making a mix for my boyfriend's dad, who listens to 80% easy listening music that makes us want to retch (ie dental waiting room music) and 20% famous jazz singers singing obvious Jazz standards, which is cool with us, but just, well, repetitive since he only listens to the most famous ones singing the most famous songs.

(By "obvious" singers I mean Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Burt Bacharach, you get the idea.)

I think he'd enjoy a mix of new music that is both familiar and unique (to him.) For example Cassandra Wilson, even though she's very famous, is probably under his radar because of the generational thing, and her cover of "Don't X'plain" will probably make it onto the mix.

However, Thom Yorke singing a Jazz standard wouldn't make it on the mix because the BF's dad isn't quite hip to Radiohead vocals no matter what they might cover.

So can I get any suggestions for specific Jazz songs that are really outstanding that fit either of these criteria (old-school Jazz singer + unusual/rare material or new-school Jazz singer + old material?)

Thanks!

posted by np312 to media & arts (38 comments total)

nina simone does a version of house of the rising sun.
posted by bitdamaged at 12:05 PM on December 1, 2006

This might make his head explode, or immediately hip-i-fy him, but Verve has 3 volumes of their Remixed line out now.
"Verve Remixed has paired some of the world’s most adventurous DJs and producers with some of the best jazz music in history."
posted by FreezBoy at 12:07 PM on December 1, 2006

Eva Cassidy might work.
posted by mzurer at 12:16 PM on December 1, 2006

Maybe Katharine Whalen?

And I've always loved Keely Smith, with or without Louis Prima. I don't know whether she'd be on boyfriend's dad's radar or not.

Finally, one of the best Willie albums ever, chock-full of standards: Stardust.
posted by paleography at 12:26 PM on December 1, 2006

Oh man, I know a few but the only one coming to mind this moment is 'Cry Me a River' as sung by Barbara Manning. She perfectly captures the languid bitterness of the lyrics. The rest of that album is probably too eccentric for most people's tastes -- particularly if you're trying to pull them out of an easy-listening rut -- but much of her other work is fine pop songwriting.
posted by ardgedee at 12:42 PM on December 1, 2006

John Pizzarelli Meets the Beatles -- by guitarist/bandleader/singer John Pizzarelli -- has some good cuts that fit the bill. I'm especially partial to "Get Back" and "I've Just Seen A Face."
posted by dseaton at 12:45 PM on December 1, 2006

Nina Simone doing Brecht & Weill's Pirate Jenny.

Bad-ass singer doing a bad-ass song.

Her version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" is also excellent.
posted by Chrischris at 12:46 PM on December 1, 2006

The (adorable) actress Zooey Deschanel is also a terrific jazz singer; I bet his dad would like her cover of "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Leon Redbone.
posted by nicwolff at 12:53 PM on December 1, 2006

Unusual or modern but trad-sounding singer + standards:
Rickie Lee Jones, "My One and Only Love"

Sinead O'Connor, "Why Don't You Do Right?" or "Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered"

Van Morrison (with Georgie Fame), "Blues in the Night"

Nelly Lutcher, "My Man"

Hoagy Carmichael singing any of his own songs, especially "Stardust," "Rockin' Chair," or "Two Sleepy People"


Old-school singer + unusual material:
Ella Fitzgerald, "Cow-Cow Boogie"

Rosemary Clooney, "Time Flies"

Mills Brothers, anything early -- most people know the MBs only from their later MOR "Paper Doll" era, but their early a cappela material really swings! Pick hits: "The Old Man of the Mountain," "Nagasaki"

Nat King Cole (King Cole Trio) -- "No Anesthetic for Love"


Now, if you to combine the two with a great, little-known old-school singer doing non-standards, check out the marvelous Una Mae Carlisle.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:53 PM on December 1, 2006

Also, isn't Andre 3000's "My Favorite Things" all sampled from Coltrane's own version of same?
posted by dseaton at 12:55 PM on December 1, 2006

Tierney Sutton is great and does tons of standards.
posted by boltman at 12:56 PM on December 1, 2006

Anything by Leon Redbone. He sticks to the standards, and veers to the bluesy side of jazz, but there's no one quite like him. And if you're in a wintery mood, he performed "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Zooey Deschanel on the soundtrack for Elf.

Elvis Costello has a pretty broad catalogue that includes several jazz standards including "My Funny Valentine", "Let's Misbehave" (from the De-Lovely soundtrack), "The Very Thought of You" (from Kojack Variety, his album of mostly-blues covers),

He also just released an album called Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland which includes a few of the songs I listed above as well as "At Last" and a version of his own "Almost Blue", which has been covered by enough artists now to almost qualify as a standard itself.

Jamie Cullum's album Twentysomething has a great version of Radiohead's "High and Dry" sung as a jazz standard.

You should also track down Steve & Eydie's version of "Black Hole Sun"!
posted by Robot Johnny at 1:02 PM on December 1, 2006

i really like Willie Nelson's version of "Willow Weep For Me" on the Tin Hat Trio's The Rodeo Eroded
posted by gnutron at 1:06 PM on December 1, 2006

Erykah Badu -- "Green Eyes"
posted by Methylviolet at 1:07 PM on December 1, 2006

If Cassandra Wilson's under his radar, so, probably, are Diane Schuur, Madeleine Peyroux and maybe even Norah Jones.
posted by box at 1:18 PM on December 1, 2006

Check out the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil soundtrack. Paula Cole singing "Autumn Leaves," Kevin Spacey singing "That Old Black Magic," Clint Eastwood singing "Acentuate the Positive" and kd lang on"Skylark," among others. Great CD, and maybe just the sort of thing you are looking for.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 1:19 PM on December 1, 2006

I hate these threads, but I love Miranda Sex Garden's recording of "My Funny Valentine"

Bjork has recorded "Gloomy Sunday" (as has Diamanda Galas) and Gwen Stefani has recorded "Almost Blue". Cyndi Lauper released a record of more-pop-than-jazz standards which includes "At last" and "Sunny Side of the Street"--the latter being a pretty good recording.
posted by crush-onastick at 1:19 PM on December 1, 2006

and lest I seem not to have read the question! MSG and Diamanda Galas are not precisely jazz singers, but they're not really pop bands either and both recordings have classic torch song elements. Bjork, Stefani and Lauper, of course, are totally pop singers, but these recordings are all done straight jazz singer style.
posted by crush-onastick at 1:22 PM on December 1, 2006

also, there is a recording of Peggy Lee singing the theme to TV's "Bewitched" which I think is charming, but may be too lofi for your purposes.
posted by crush-onastick at 1:26 PM on December 1, 2006

John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman is all standards sung by a not too well known singer. It's an absolutely brilliant album.
posted by doctor_negative at 1:33 PM on December 1, 2006

'Waltzing Matilda' is not quite jazz/easy listening although I hear it often enough in that context. It gets a beautiful reading by Tom Waits, called 'Tom Traubert's Blues' and appears on Small Change and a couple best-of compilations (some also have his version of 'Somewhere' from West Side Story). Waits has more than a few standards in his repertoire and he's a great ballad singer. Some people I wouldn't expect to like him at all like his smoke-filled-bar versions of mainstream songs.

Mark Eitzel has a whole album of covers, Music for Courage and Confidence. There are easy listening ballads ('Gentle on My Mind', 'I Only Have Eyes for You') not as ingratiating and saccharine as the original version. Far from his best work but a couple tracks are appealing and most of them fit this swing/ easy listening/ lounge vibe.
posted by ardgedee at 1:34 PM on December 1, 2006

Matt Damon singing My Funny Valentine was pretty good I thought. He did it for the Talented Mr. Ripply.
posted by chunking express at 2:05 PM on December 1, 2006

Let's hear it for Queen Latifah! Her Dana Owens Album is chock-full of jazz and old R&B standards. While I have "Hello Stranger" stuck in my mind at this moment, I'd recommend "If I Had You" for the mix. Her album has the added benefit that once he gets hooked, you can slip him one of her older rap albums and freak him out :)

I'll also second Elvis Costello - any kind of music you want to make a mix of, he's certainly done some form of it.
posted by Moondoggie at 2:06 PM on December 1, 2006

Ardgedee beat me to it with the suggestion of Tom Waits' version of Somewhere. A singer friend of mine heard it once and said to me "I'm amazed that someone with such a bad voice can sing so beautifully".

Another suggestion: Elvis Costello covers 'My Funny Valentine" as a bonus track on the re-issue of one of his early albums. Great stuff.
posted by tim_in_oz at 2:08 PM on December 1, 2006

Betty Carter - just about anything.
posted by thenextword at 2:13 PM on December 1, 2006

Julie London does great jazz singing. Diana Krall has several albums out---the earlier are the jazzier. Two truly great cabaret singers: Nancy LaMott and Wesla Whitfield. John Pizzarelli is a fine singer (and jazz guitariest): check out "New Standards" by him---a leap at new jazz standards.

Hope this helps.
posted by LeisureGuy at 2:19 PM on December 1, 2006

Robbie Williams put out a CD of jazz/swing covers called Swing When You're Winning, and it's surprisingly enjoyable. His cover of "Beyond the Sea" was used in the end credits of Finding Nemo, so there might be a point of familiarity there. He even recorded the album at Capitol Records in LA.
posted by sarahsynonymous at 2:32 PM on December 1, 2006

Caetano Veloso does Porter, Berlin, Gershwin, and Rodgers and Hart on A Foreign Sound. He also did "Let's Face the Music and Dance" on Omaggio a Federico e Giulietta.

Try Ahmad Jamal. I like his version of "Nature Boy".

Does he like bossa nova? He probably already knows some of the songs that became jazz standards, like "The Girl from Ipanema" and "Slightly Out of Tune (Desafinado)". There's a wealth of material there. You could start him off with some versions by artists he's familiar with, like Frank Sinatra or the folks on this compilation.
posted by hydrophonic at 2:34 PM on December 1, 2006

And there's always Michael Feinstein and Harry Connick Jr. for very traditional-sounding contemporary jazz singers.
posted by hydrophonic at 2:38 PM on December 1, 2006

Lea Delaria has an album called Double Standards. It has jazz versions of modern songs like "Black Hole Sun" and "Been Caught Stealing".
posted by deepbeep at 3:29 PM on December 1, 2006

The Glory of Gershwin has lots of Gershwin tunes by singers like Sting, Peter Gabriel, Elton John, etc.

On the flip side, there's Pat Boone doing metal music or Paul Anka covering songs like Jump and Smells Like Teen Spirit.
posted by forrest at 3:46 PM on December 1, 2006

OOOH! OOH! I've got the perfect thing! Erin McKeown, awesome AAA singer/songwriter, just put out her album of standards ... and it's incredible! Highest recommendation.

Going the other way: Try Jacqui Naylor. On one record she does U2, R.E.M. and Rod Stewart in classic jazz fashion; on another, it's the Kinks, Joan Armatrading and the Rolling Stones.

Finally, my favorite modern jazz vocalist is Karrin Allyson - she can't be beat. For material, she goes from standards to Joni Mitchell to Cat Stevens. (And for straight-ahead vocal jazz gorgeousness, nothing tops her track-by-track reimagining of Coltrane's classic "Ballads" record.)
posted by jbickers at 6:16 PM on December 1, 2006

Big Maybelle - Candy
The Nearness Of You - Sheena Easton
Someone To watch over me - Sting
posted by rileyray3000 at 10:35 PM on December 1, 2006

Also, non-trad song from great singer?

"There's a Flaw in My Flue" by Frank Sinatra
or "Lean Baby" by same
posted by rileyray3000 at 10:37 PM on December 1, 2006

Lisa Ekdahl - gorgeous voice, cool interpretations. BACK TO EARTH is a good place to start. Another great one is BACK TO EARTH but you can't go wrong with any of her CD's. You can also go to iTunes and listen to a sample. WHAT IS LOVE is my fav.

If you like it cabaret style - usually with patter in between, Andrea Marcovicci.

Or really different - Susan Wong, she actually has a better range than Diane Krall, who of course is great also.

Or the most unlikely great vocal's CD ... Renee Olstead ... It's not some vanity project, she can flat out sing.

Patricia Kaas's English CD is great - Piano Bar.

Jane Monheit is great.

Nancy LaMott, another great singer that passed away too early.

Blossom Dearie was great and as mentioned, Eva Cassidy - her rendition of OVER THE RAINBOW is flat out one of the greatest renditions of any song ever.
posted by jbelkin at 11:52 PM on December 1, 2006

Stacey Kent is a wonderful singer who covers a range of material, focusing on old standards. Her best-of "Stacey Kent: The Collection" is a great place to start. From the BBC review:

Kent has the knack of giving straight, unadorned readings of well worn standards with a freshness that's rare and sweet...It's subtle, unforced stuff; she can be cute without cloying, sassy without being smug and handles ballads with an assured delicacy and depth. What could easily become cliche is never in danger of being so; check the joyful treatment of "In The Still of the Night", "It's Delovely" or the poise of the hushed, Bill Evans-esque "You Go To My Head"...

All in all, a fine introduction to the work of one of the best interpreters of the Great American Songbook around. Diana who?

It also sounds like boyfriend's dad could maybe afford to dig deeper into the history of "standard" jazz singers. After I get back from dinner I'll see if I can dig up a few classic jazz vocal CDs that stand out from the sea of good-but-overly-familiar stuff he seems to have been listening to.
posted by mediareport at 5:32 PM on December 2, 2006

The soundtrack for "In the Mood For Love" has several lovely tracks of Nat King Cole singing in Portuguese, which might be unusual enough for your boyfriend's dad's ears.

The "De-Lovely" soundtrack has Cole Porter songs done by non-jazz artists like Sheryl Crow, and it's a mixed bag, but one track, "Love For Sale' by Vivian Green, is a stand-out.

Jessica Molaskey, (wife of John Pizzarelli mentioned above) has a collection of lesser known songs from 20s-30s called "Pentimento".
posted by of strange foe at 7:41 PM on December 2, 2006

Strong second for Erykah Badu, and in the same vein (if in a different direction musically), Fiona Apple's first album, Tidal.
posted by allterrainbrain at 5:41 AM on December 3, 2006