Would love a j*** recommendation

Cassandra Wilson can be quite good on all those points.
'Blue light til daw'n and 'New moon daughter' are two with excellent production.

Might be a little 'lite' for your tastes but have a try, gorgeous voice, crackin production, nice and seductive............................

Lizz Wright

Regards

Diccus

You might consider Diane Reeves disc from the soundtrack of the film Good Night and Good Luck. Excellent vocals, recording, and material

You could try the Verve albums Ella Fitzgerald made with Louis Armstrong (backed by a young Oscar Peterson) in the 1950s. Not exactly "silky" but very, very stately interpreations of some great standards.

Another great female jazz vocal album is The Audience With Betty Carter, a stunning set of interpreations of standards recorded before a live audience. Many buffs regard it as THE great female jazz vocal album.

Not exactly what you asked for, but with jazz you gotta be adventurous...

K

I forgot to say, the recording on the Ella records (by Norman Granz) is exceptional, especially if you can get hold of a good quality (ie non 70s or 80s) pressing.

K

I reckon this will fit the bill.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lyric-Tomlinson-featuring-Stace...id=1180043961&sr=1-1

Stacey Kent is a fantastic singer, and it's beautifully recorded.

Nigel

Try William Parker's 'Raining On The Moon' - Parker is for my money THE pre-eminent contemporary jazz bassist, and this set features a female vocalist (Leena Conquest) and other top-drawer musicians.

Read about it here.

Jim

try "lush life," jacintha. she's made several high quality recordings. or karrin allyson, i've seen her live, nice voice; her "ballads: remembering john coltrane" may be of interest, kind of a tribute record, she always has a good set of players. i second any record by betty carter, too. she was one of the greats. if you like bluesy, try one of patricia barber's audiophile records.

Patricia Barber is the definition of your request.

Thanks for the choices, just waiting for some Patricia Barber to be delivered ..

quote:

Originally posted by hungryhalibut:

Stacey Kent is a fantastic singer........
Nigel

^^^^^What he said^^^^^

Stacey and Jim have a long list of beautiful albums, all brilliantly recorded and liberally sprinkled with gems. Buy them all now!

Not sure about the bass driven part, but here are some faves:

1. Holly Cole Trio - Don't Smoke in Bed

2. Diana Krall - All For You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio

3. Rickie Lee Jones - Pop Pop

i second cole's "don't smoke in bed" (but not her later stuff, where she wandered in to beatle tunes etc.). audiophile recording of bass-driven trio (cole singing, pianist and double bass). great tunes.

Diana Krall - Live in Paris.

If you want better sound still, buy the japanese version.

Great album.

Danny Thompson(double bass) has a couple Jazz albums in his solo career releases.

quote:

Originally posted by Right Wing:
Diana Krall - Live in Paris.

If you want better sound still, buy the japanese version.

Great album.

may I ask why out of interest, I notice when i look at the japanese import it seems to have DVD in the spine text ??

Someone showed me a DVD of a 1958 Jazz Festival with Anita O'Day. I didn't know her, but she is awesome.

quote:

Originally posted by Diccus62:

Might be a little 'lite' for your tastes but have a try, gorgeous voice, crackin production, nice and seductive............................ Lizz Wright

Diccus, I heartily agree with your endorsement of Lizz Wright, but am troubled by your use of the pejorative "lite," which implies lack of substance and nutrition, neither of which is the least bit deficient in her music.

I strongly recommend her album Dreaming Wide Awake.

All best,
Fred

quote:

Originally posted by fidelio:

i second cole's "don't smoke in bed" (but not her later stuff, where she wandered in to beatle tunes etc.)

Fidelio, is your problem with how she handles the Beatle tunes, etc., or with the material itself?

All best,
Fred

fred,

i wouldn't go so far as to call it a "problem." i think the first record is a very well-produced/recorded stand out, and the others are not so stunningly good, although i like them ok. nothing against the beatles, but they aren't jazz standards.

best, fid.

quote:

Originally posted by fidelio:

i wouldn't go so far as to call it a "problem." i think the first record is a very well-produced/recorded stand out, and the others are not so stunningly good, although i like them ok. nothing against the beatles, but they aren't jazz standards.

Fidelio, in any case, it did seem clear that you weren't enamored of Cole's renditions of "beatle tunes etc." I'm still not sure I understand where the objection lies.

On the one hand, songs by Lennon-McCartney and Harrison have been in the jazz standard repertoire for decades now, recorded by musicians such as Wes Montgomery, Ramsey Lewis, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Shirley Horn, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, Stanley Turrentine, Jaco Pastorius, Ray Charles, Oscar Peterson, Tony Bennett, Charles Lloyd, George Benson, Brad Mehldau, Marian McPartland, Gabor Szabo, Charlie Byrd, Stan Kenton, Oliver Nelson, Larry Coryell, Ralph Towner, John Abercrombie, Lee Morgan, and Toots Thielemans, just to mention a few. Herbie Hancock's wonderful reharmonization of Norwegian Wood appears on his album The New Standard. Hey, if Herbie thinks Beatle tunes are standards, that's good enough for me.

On the other hand, it's true that Beatles tunes are not part of what's considered the American Songbook ... Gershwin, Berlin, Porter, Rodgers & Hart, etc. But why is this problematic in and of itself?

On the third hand, why does it even matter whether they're jazz standards or not? They're great songs which meet the same standard of excellent song craft. Which leads me back to my question: is it specifically Cole's take on them you don't care for, or do you feel that Beatles tunes are inherently inferior to tunes in the American Songbook?

All best,
Fred

Could I add a vote for either the Best Of Holly Cole or, alternately, Temptation by the same. The latter is an album of Tom Waits covers. Whilst we could argue all night about whether those songs might be not jazz or "standards" or whether she is, as someone once said, a "somewhat identikit jazz vocalist" I would argue that the production on said album is worth the price of purchase - especially if you have a Naim system and want to hear that "in the room" effect oft talked of here.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Hughes:
Could I add a vote for either the Best Of Holly Cole or, alternately, Temptation by the same.

Temptation's another good Holly Cole album, though less "accessible" than Don't Smoke In Bed.

Haven't heard the Best Of though, seems to have too many songs from Temptation and DSIB to be worth buying