The Great Song Stylists - Male Vs. Female Singers

[medjuck]

Lee Wiley who I like because she;s not a stylist. And Joe Williams when he's not singing blues.

[JSngry]

Pops Poopadeaux

[Tom Storer]

Joe Williams when he's not singing blues.

Nothing wrong with this:

But I can see preferring something like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hCoFKJWTls

[BillF]

I'm not very big on vocalists, male or female. The only one represented in my collection by more than a handful of tracks or one cd is Helen Merrill.

I guess I'm selective about vocalists. In my collection are albums by Anita O'Day, Irene Kral, Annie Ross, Lambert Hendricks & Ross, Mel Tormé, Tony Bennett (with Bill Evans), Johnny Hartman and The Hi-Los (arangements by Marty Paich and Clare Fischer)and I'll shortly be buying one by Mark Murphy.

[AllenLowe]

I once heard Benny Goodman sing a nice chorus - however, we have forgotten about the greatest male vocalist ever - no kidding -

CLIFF EDWARDS.

[Peter Friedman]

Billie Holiday and Shirley Horn

[Teasing the Korean]

Tony Bennett (with Bill Evans)

Nice piano but not Tony's best vocals in my opinion.

[Shawn]

I still have a hard time warming up to Male jazz vocalists, other than people like Nat King Cole or Jimmy Witherspoon. My jazz vocal albums are probably 95% female.

[Ted O'Reilly]

I once heard Benny Goodman sing a nice chorus - however, we have forgotten about the greatest male vocalist ever - no kidding -

CLIFF EDWARDS.

Hmm.... Maybe not the best, but certainly much under-recognized, except as the singer of "When You Wish Upon A Star"...

And I've not seen Jack Teagarden's name mentioned yet. He's someone I like to listen to. It seems to me that jazz instrumentalists make the best jazz singers.

I don't think Sinatra was a jazz singer (though he could have been), but he's certainly the Best Interpreter Of Light Verse in the 20th Century, slightly edging out his idol, Bing Crosby (who's more of a jazz singer than Frank).

BTW, here's some Ukelele Ike fun, with Buster Keaton fingering the uke...

Edited December 24, 2011 by Ted O'Reilly

[Neal Pomea]

Tommy Duncan

[Ted O'Reilly]

Tommy Duncan

Good one, Neal! If only Wills didn't put all those yee-haws in there...

[GA Russell]

I think of a stylist as someone who has a unique and consistent interpretation of the music. Am I wrong?

For that reason, I would consider Lee Wiley to be a stylist. I have a cassette made up of three 10 inch Columbia albums she did that I like very much. But I haven't been looking to buy any more.

A favorite stylist of mine is Mose Allison. Not blessed with a great voice, not a great singer, but IMO a great stylist.

I love Frank's Capitol recordings of the 50s, and I enjoy hearing on Sirius his Columbia recordings of the 40s. But I don't care if I never hear his post-'64 Reprise recordings again. I think he aged a great deal very quickly, and not for the better, shortly after he founded Reprise.

Tony Bennett, on the other hand, is the opposite for me. I can do without his early work - much too Italian ethnic for me. I don't mind his 60s work. But I love his 90s recordings.

Somewhere along the line I got tired abruptly of both Nat Cole and Mark Murphy. Not a criticism. I just don't need to buy any more of them ever again.

A very pleasant surprise for me at the 1991 New Orleans Jazzfest was Charles Brown. He was much better than I expected. It's time for me to get another of his. I'm sorry I didn't get the Mosaic.

I got four Julie London albums for my birthday last month, so evidently I'm still enjoying her after all these years.

Edited December 25, 2011 by GA Russell

[Teasing the Korean]

I love Frank's Capitol recordings of the 50s, and I enjoy hearing on Sirius his Columbia recordings of the 40s. But I don't care if I never hear his post-'64 Reprise recordings again. I think he aged a great deal very quickly, and not for the better, shortly after he founded Reprise.

His album with Jobim is is post-64.

[GA Russell]

Well, not to get into an argument, TTK, but I think that Frank on that album is too leaden for Jobim - both his compositions and his arrangements.

[Teasing the Korean]

Well, not to get into an argument, TTK, but I think that Frank on that album is too leaden for Jobim - both his compositions and his arrangements.

I've heard that criticism about that album, but I think it works. Agree though in general about the later Reprise stuff.

[AllenLowe]

I like those Bob WIlle yea-haws. They're actually neo-yodels, a minstrel remnant.