Best of Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan

BTW, although you didn't ask I can't resist - try some Etta Jones. Great voice - somewhat similar in style to the older jazz greats. She passed recently from cancer. A commorative compilation CD, "Etta Jones, Always In Our Hearts" on Blue Note. I highly recommend it! Might even cause you to go out and buy a few of her other recordings. :-)

Excellent thread.... These are the the best kind of threads and not enough of them. There is a gapping hole in my collection for classic female jazz artiist. I am taking good notes so keep up the good work.

Etta James - "Life's Been Rough on Me"

Regards,

Try Etta's latest - "Blues to the Bone" At 67 (I think she was born in '38) she can sing the blues like nobody's business. All of her work is superior - try her first LP "At last", live from 1963 "Rocks the House", "Tell Mama" from 1968 with an amazing muscle shoals music section, and some of the later ones mentioned above. She is truly amazing.

For Sarah Vaughan try anything on the Pablo label (Ellington Songbooks, Copacabana, etc.) and stay away from her Roulette label material (more pop than jazz, but others may disagree). Also look out for her version of "September Song" with Clifford Brown, it's on several compilations.

For Ella Fitzgerald any of the Songbooks (Gershwin, Ellington, Rogers/Hart etc.) on Verve are great. "Let's Do It" with Louis Armstrong is also very good, as is "Clap Hands, Here Comes Charley".

Verve also has a multi-disc set featuring both Sarah and Ella in their 'Round Midnight series.