{"id":97766,"date":"2016-06-09T11:14:26","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T11:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/6toplists.com\/?p=97766"},"modified":"2016-06-09T11:30:55","modified_gmt":"2016-06-09T11:30:55","slug":"the-top-6-jazz-singers-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/6toplists.com\/?p=97766","title":{"rendered":"The Top 6 Jazz Singers of All Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cGood music doesn’t have an expiration date.\u201d<\/em>[CustomTables]<\/strong><\/p>\n

The term\u201cJazz singer\u201d used to be one of the most controversial<\/strong> terms in the jazz lexicon. Back in 1963, the British jazz historian Benny Green<\/a> claimed that there was no such thing as a jazz singer, and as late as the 1980s, the argument was being advanced by none other than Mel Torm\u00e9<\/a>! Of course, jazz itself defies definition<\/strong>, and that makes defining a jazz singer difficult as well.<\/p>\n

The argument is rarely heard<\/strong> these days, mostly due to the large influx of talented, schooled vocalists who prove their right to be called jazz singers by the quality and content of their performances. As in any group of artists, there are some that have gained popularity<\/strong>, and others who are just as talented who are not as well-known.<\/p>\n

So, without taking anything away from Diana Krall, Jane Monheit, Dianne Reeves, Cassandra Wilson, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Madeline Peyroux, here are twelve other contemporary female jazz vocalists<\/strong> who you definitely should hear.<\/p>\n

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It is not essential<\/strong> to have an amazing vocal range or technique to sing jazz, which makes it great if you’ve never sung before. Singing jazz standards is about exploring the unique qualities<\/strong> of your voice and learning how to personalize a song. Your jazz singing voice should be a natural extension<\/strong> of your speaking voice.<\/p>\n

The best way to begin is by immersing yourself<\/strong> in the music of the great singers. Some of the best females include Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Betty Carter and Peggy Lee. Male jazz singers to listen to include Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torm\u00e9, Louis Armstrong, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Jon Hendricks and Mark Murphy.<\/p>\n

Being a good jazz vocalist<\/strong> isn\u2019t easy, and simply releasing a CD doesn\u2019t prove competence. More than some genres, a voice that\u2019s technically good<\/strong> is almost a requirement. There are exceptions, but in this particular genre you don\u2019t find too many Captain Beefhearts or Leonard Cohens. (Well, you don\u2019t find too many of them anywhere\u2014but you can see my point.) Also, the idiom of jazz singing is demanding<\/strong> enough that some people never quite get a handle on it.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s also the question of material<\/strong>. When it comes to the Great American Songbook<\/a>, it\u2019s hard to give a fresh spin to tunes that were already popular in the first half of the 20th Century and never faded<\/strong> into obscurity.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, singers have mixed results when they look elsewhere. Let\u2019s face it, incorporating post-Beatles<\/a> pop music has produced its fair share<\/strong> of train wrecks in both vocal and instrumental jazz.<\/p>\n

Usually the fault lies in the interpretations rather than the choices, with musicians creating uninspired arrangements<\/strong> of obvious material in a sad effort to seem relevant. Writing your own songs also presents its own challenges<\/strong>, and my reject pile proves that not everyone is a songwriter. Even after a jazz singer has passed through all those hoops, challenges await her.<\/p>\n

Let’s see the top 6 jazz singers of all time:<\/p>\n

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6. Ella Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

A voice with so much range and personality<\/strong> infused in it, Ella Fitzgerald<\/a> is perhaps the best known jazz singer out there. You \u2018aint heard scat until you\u2019ve heard Miss Ella letting her voice out, and let\u2019s just be real, I think big bands were made for someone like her to sing in front of.\u00a0Maybe that\u2019s why fronting Chick Webb<\/a>\u2019s band brought her so much admiration<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0like most of the women that will appear on this list, sistahs like Ella could do it for themselves<\/strong>. With over 50 years of entertaining under her belt, Fitzgerald left us with many masterpieces<\/strong>\u00a0to remember her by, including \u201cThey Can\u2019t Take That Away From Me,\u201d her work on \u201cA-Tisket, A-Tasket\u201d and \u201cAll The Things You Are.\u201d<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bX4-4rLJsnQ<\/p>\n

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5. Dinah Washington<\/h2>\n

The church just breeds the best voices<\/strong>, wouldn\u2019t you agree? If you are brave\u00a0enough to disagree, allow the music of Dinah Washington<\/a> to persuade you otherwise. Full of colorful character<\/strong> and smart lyrical content (\u201cMan is a creature that has always been strange\u201d), Washington had many a hit in her short career. Take a listen to \u201cWhat a Diff\u2019rence a Day Makes\u201d and her take on \u201cAint Misbehavin.\u201d It really says something when the \u201cQueen of Soul\u201d, Aretha Franklin<\/a>, calls the \u201cQueen of the Blues\u201d one of her biggest influences<\/strong>.<\/p>\n