Modern day female jazz recommendations

Rickie Lee Jones...
Check out the new RLJ release if you haven't already. Called "It's Like This" - an Incredible pressing from Analogue Productions.

Rosa Passos for some excellent, well recorded modern bossa nova. By the way, I checked out Madeleine Peyroux based on recommendations in this thread and absolutely love her singing.

I haven't seen anyone mention Sandy Sasso. She is great. Start with Mixed Grill. I have been using Tuxedo Junction for speaker auditions and have won her fans in the process. I suspect VMPS may be using that song to show off their speakers now. Another one you don't hear about too much about in recent years is Susanne McCorkle. She can be a bit quirky but a lot of fun. Dream is a good starting CD. Sophie Milman has a lot of potential, beautiful voice but she needs to develop more. Still, her Make Somebody Happy (I hope I remember that right) is very pretty and is well worth a listen, if only for Rocket Love. Holly Cole, especially her new solo album, Cheryle Bentyne is fun.

Good thread. FYI, Sue McCorkle died a few years back, suicide. She had had some health problems and career setbacks. I have tons of he stuff and loved it all.
I second alot of the stuff on this list. Some oters.. Laverne Butler is another below the radar singer...bluesy with a Carmen feel. Carmen Mcrae obviously has to be mentioned. Rene Marie, Anne Hampton Callaway, Rebecca Kilgore, Diane Schurr, Jackie Allen, Carla Helmbrecht,an Irish singer whose name escapes me now..very Billie influenced. Old Nancy Wilson with Cannonball Adderly and some other standards oriented sets.

Try Esperanza Spalding for a contemporary jazz female vocalist and she plays the Bass during her songs. Saw her on David Letterman's show this last week. She's new, but worth hearing right now.