Where to go from Back to the Blues?

August 2, 2007 3:54 PM

MusicFilter: Help me discover more vocal jazz.

I cannot stop listening to Dinah Washington's album "Back to the Blues". Please recommend some similar stuff.

posted by AceRock to media & arts (27 comments total)

I really enjoy Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald; I'm not so high on Billie Holiday but she's an obvious choice.

I also really like Anita O'Day and Blossom Dearie--the latter is a bit novelty-ish but man, is she cool.
posted by padraigin at 3:58 PM on August 2, 2007

I've been on a Blossom Dearie kick lately. Love her.

I like Carmen McRae and Maxine Sullivan too.
posted by nonmyopicdave at 4:04 PM on August 2, 2007

For a more contemporary sound, but equally awesome, try Cassandra Wilson.
posted by The World Famous at 4:06 PM on August 2, 2007

Madeleine Peyroux or Jane Monheit?
Especially Madeleine Peyroux.
posted by exceptinsects at 4:09 PM on August 2, 2007

I presume you know about Pandora,
but i figure that it should be said.


aand padraign said most of what I was going to, except for Bessie Smith.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 4:12 PM on August 2, 2007

Kurt Elling. He's brilliant. Best male jazz vocalist I've ever heard.
posted by scblackman at 4:20 PM on August 2, 2007

Nina Simone, one of the greats. Rosemary Clooney, Julie London, Peggy Lee, La Lupe, Astrud and (and if you're into more modern electronic crooning, her daughter Babel) Gilberto. If you go to the Great American Songbook Wiki page it has a huge list of singers and writers I'm sure you'd be interested in. These are just the ones that come to mind easily, there are tons out there.

Esperanza Spalding has a great voice, her album Junjo is ok, but her previous band 'Noise for Pretend' really showcases her voice and definitely is more like golden age singers.
posted by Large Marge at 4:34 PM on August 2, 2007

Seconding Nina Simone and the wonderful Miss Peggy Lee. Been listening to them both a lot lately.
posted by scody at 4:38 PM on August 2, 2007

(of the more contemporary, the very best) Shirley Horn (who is an amazing pianist too) and Carole Sloane. Seconding Cassandra Wilson too.
posted by nnk at 4:47 PM on August 2, 2007

That's Carol Sloane -- I seem to want add an 'e' to everything.
posted by nnk at 4:48 PM on August 2, 2007

If male vocalists are of interest, check out Johnny Hartman, such as a beautiful disk he cut with John Coltrane.

[www.amazon.com/John-Coltrane-Johnny-Hartman/dp/B000003N7K] (I'm not sure I know how to add links, sorry, can't find an explanation in the faq).

Among the women, if you like Dinah W. I would add Lonette McGee and second Ella F. and Sarah V., and for me especially Billie Holiday.

For Lonette McKee and other good jazz try the soundtrack for the movie Round Midnight (1986, starring Dexter Gordon).
posted by Rain Man at 5:00 PM on August 2, 2007

These are all excellent recommendations. I'll add: Bobby McFerrin, The Manhattan Transfer.
posted by ldenneau at 5:04 PM on August 2, 2007

And if you like Manhattan Transfer type stuff in addition to solo vocalists, you should check out the inventors of vocalese, Lambert Hendricks and Ross.
posted by rhizome at 5:18 PM on August 2, 2007

I really like Michael Franks.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 5:21 PM on August 2, 2007

Seconding Johnny Hartman. One of the greatest.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 5:36 PM on August 2, 2007

My favorites are Steve Tyrell and Eva Cassidy (who did, AFAIC, the definitive version of Over the Rainbow).
posted by sgass at 6:19 PM on August 2, 2007

One of my favorites is Helen Merrill. Great voice. Underrated, I think, in the West, but she was (and is) huge in Japan.
posted by trip and a half at 6:27 PM on August 2, 2007

Patricia Cathcart Andress of Tuck & Patti will repay your attention. Dianne Reeves, Diane "Deedles" Schuur, and the incomparable Brazilian singer Tania Maria are all good contemporary bets.

There are plenty of great male jazz vocalists, but among my favorites are Jimmy Rushing, Joe Williams, Billy Eckstine, Eddie Jefferson, King Pleasure ( Clarence Beeks) and Jack Teagarden. And even though he's better remembered as a trumpeter and legendary bad boy, Chet Baker could sing, too.
posted by paulsc at 6:30 PM on August 2, 2007

Chet Baker: oh my god, yes. His vocals slay me every time. I was just listening to "Blue Room" this morning.
posted by scody at 6:48 PM on August 2, 2007

Seconding Eve Cassidy - her Over the Rainbow is a revelation, but also her interpretations of songs across the spectrum (including Lennon's Imagine and Sting's Fields of Gold).
posted by Rain Man at 6:49 PM on August 2, 2007

Nobody's mentioned Abbey Lincoln yet?
posted by box at 7:48 PM on August 2, 2007

Allmusic.com is great for this kind of thing, AceRock. Back to the Blues is apparently a vocal/big band session, but I find smaller-group stuff is more fun if you want to focus on the vocalist. Here's *the* classic Sarah Vaughan record, from 1954, described as "one of the most important jazz-meets-vocal sessions ever recorded." Swingin' Easy from 1957 is also great, as is 1961's After Hours. If you want her with a big band, try No Count Sarah, with Basie's band behind her. It's one of the best vocal/big band albums I've heard.

Anita O'Day is wonderful; this small-group session with the Oscar Peterson quartet is an energetic delight with lots of warmth. O'Day also recorded with a lot of big bands; any of her Verve albums from the mid- to late-1950s (before her heroin addiction started affecting her voice) are going to be good.

Some folks consider Blossom Dearie a bit of an acquired taste because her voice can seem a little twee at times, but go ahead and acquire it (I don't think it needs acquiring at all, actually; I find her instantly accessible). She's a really fun singer who would later go on to sing many of the early and most famous Schoolhouse Rock songs; any of her early Verves are gonna be good but this one's your best bet.

Ella is a must; the stuff closest to what you say you like is probably found on her various "songbook" albums from Verve in the 50s. It's stunningly good big band vocal jazz.

And, of course, you should be checking out some other fantastic Dinah Washington albums from the same time period.

Have fun! I envy you the discoveries you're about to discover!
posted by mediareport at 10:44 PM on August 2, 2007

If you like Dinah Washington, you'll prolly also get off on Nancy Wilson (not the one from Heart). She is a disciple of Dinah's. I love Nancy Wilson.
posted by wsg at 11:38 PM on August 2, 2007

Dianne Reeves sings the soundtrack to "Good Night, and Good Luck". It is good.
posted by robcorr at 11:46 PM on August 2, 2007

She's not very big in the US (yet!) but I absolutely adore Claire Martin.

Her compilation album Every Now and Then is a good introduction.
posted by dogsbody at 2:05 AM on August 3, 2007

He's more on the abstract end of the vocal jazz spectrum, but Leon Thomas is one of the more beautiful and inspiring jazz singers I've ever heard. I cannot recommend him enough and anyone who approaches his music with an open mind is undoubtedly going to be floored. His album Spirits Known and Unknown is incredible, he also did work with Pharoah Sanders and Santana, but I am most fond of his solo work.

There isn't too much info on him floating around the internet but the All Music Guide has a decent overview.
posted by cloeburner at 6:02 AM on August 3, 2007

Watch Ken Burns' Jazz, which is great from the origins of jazz until the 1960s. (Dissenting views.) There's a box set and compilations of individual artists. Usually it's tough to find career-spanning best-ofs for a lot of jazz artists because they recorded for different labels during their careers, but what's nice about the CDs is that Burns was able to get cooperation from the labels to get a good overview.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:11 AM on August 3, 2007