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Jun 19, 2018 · More than 4,600 votes were cast by our listeners for the songs they felt were the best jazz vocal songs of all time. The votes have been counted and the top 50 vocal jazz songs are now...
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50 Greatest Jazz Vocalists. More than 4,600 votes were cast...
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- “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday.
- “Lush Life” by Johnny Hartman.
- “God Bless the Child” by Billie Holiday.
- “How High The Moon” by Ella Fitzgerald.
- Jackie Paris
- Madeleine Peyroux
- Mose Allison
- Dakota Staton
- Cab Calloway
- Helen Humes
- Leon Thomas
- Cassandra Wilson
- Andy Bey
- Etta Jones
A child tap dancer born into a musical Italian-American family from New Jersey, Carlo Jackie Paris started his music career leading a jazz trio in which he played guitar and sang. He toured with Charlie Parkerin the early 50s, a decade in which he recorded several albums and won a clutch of awards. Paris’ career tailed off dramatically from 1962, b...
Originally from Athens, Georgia, Peyroux’s relocation to Paris, France, as a teenager, where she busked as a street musician singing and playing guitar, helped to shape her distinctive brand of bohemian-esque retro jazz. There are perceptible echoes of Billie Holiday in Peyroux’s phrasing and tone, but via a series of consistently fine albums, she ...
A noted singer-songwriter from Tippo, Mississippi, Allison found a unique niche for himself in the jazz world with his often witty and elegantly wrought tunes infused with a piquant blues flavor. Though no vocal gymnast, Allison’s voice was light in tone, conversational in its approach, and, with its southern lilt, stands out from the crowd enough ...
After winning DownBeat magazine’s Most Promising Newcomer accolade in 1955, this Pennsylvanian chanteuse signed to Capitol Records and lived up to her early promise by delivering a classic LP in 1957, The Late, Late Show, which made the Top 5 of the US Pop charts. Though her declamatory, athletic style, with its clear enunciation, is indebted to Di...
One of the originators of scat singing, this charismatic, flamboyant bandleader from Rochester, New York, is best remembered for his classic 1931 song “Minnie The Moocher.” In its chart-topping wake there followed a slew of further swing-driven hits characterized by humorous lyrics peppered with witty wordplay and hip street argot.
Starting out singing gospel music in her local church in Louisville, Kentucky, lithe-voiced Humes was precociously talented and made her first recordings when she was 14. She recorded with Harry James before Count Basiespotted her singing in Cincinnati’s Cotton Club venue in 1937, while seeking a replacement for a departing Billie Holiday. Humes al...
From Miles Davis’ hometown of East St Louis, Illinois, Thomas was steeped in the blues but, uniquely among this list of the best jazz singers, went on to be part of the avant-garde vanguard. He cultivated an unusual and idiosyncratic vocal style in the 60s, defined by yodeling and tremulous ululations. Though he recorded first with Count Basie, Tho...
With her sultry, smoky-hued voice, Mississippi-born Wilson started her career as part of saxophonist Steve Coleman’s experimental M-Base collective in the 80s, but really blossomed when she signed with Blue Note in 1993, where her unique style and striking reconfigurations of classic rock and pop songs took her music to a wider audience.
Still recording today, New Jersey’s Bey is an original voice in jazz – John Coltraneonce called him his favorite singer – who has plowed his own unique furrow over five decades. Though nominally a lush, resonant-voiced baritone, Bey’s voice is said to extend four octaves in range. Among those he’s collaborated with are Max Roach, Gary Bartz, Stanle...
Hailing from South Carolina, this southern song siren, who had a hint of Billie Holiday in her slightly nasal tone, cut her first record as a 16-year-old in 1944, but it wasn’t until 1957 when she released her first LP. Adept at performing both swinging uptempo material and ballads, Jones was a versatile vocalist whose most commercially successful ...
- Charles Waring
Feb 7, 2013 · 50 Great Jazz Vocals is a crowdsourced list of the 50 most popular jazz vocal recordings of all time, as determined by the listeners of NPR Music, Jazz24.org and KPLU in Seattle.
- Joey Cohn
Listen to 50 Essential Jazz Vocal Standards on Spotify · Compilation · Various Artists · 2014 · 51 songs.
Feb 7, 2013 · Last month more than 4,600 votes were cast by our listeners for the songs they felt were the greatest jazz vocal of all time. The votes have been counted and the top 50 songs are now available below in our 24/7 stream!
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Apr 19, 2024 · The best jazz songs come in all shapes and sizes, whether it's free, fusion, modal, or something else entirely. This list covers them all.
