Best female vocals on CD

Cassandra Wilson has one of the best voices in jazz. Patricia Barber is incredible too. Heather Nova is a little known hottie with an amazing voice. Provacative lyrics too! Suze diMarche of Baby Animals (defunct band, but you can still get the CDs)--straight ahead rock! She's up there with the all-time best female rock 'n' roll singer: Chrisie Hynde of the Pretenders!

Eva Cassidy bowls over everybody I play her for.Also K.D. Lang Especially when she was working with Ben Mink is fabulous.

For those of you who consider Diana Krall a great vocalist, it wasn't so offensive, it would be laughable. She is a passable singer whose record company is trying to push her as a singer in order to maximize her marketability. How would you rate her next to Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn or Nancy Wilson? Even someone like Natalie Cole, who stands between jazz and pop music completely eclipses her as a vocalist. She has no vocal range and little capability to reinterpret a song in a way to "make it her own". She is an excellent pianist, with a sweet, limited voice. and she looks good on the front of a CD. Many of her CD's have stunning sound. That's it.

I think Diana K. is a great singer and pianist. I think she'll go down as one of the all time greats. To the list of other greats, add in Gillian Welch (w/David Rawlings - his guitar playing adds quite a bit to the music). She sings bluegrass / american folk music. Beautiful soft voice. I met her and david at a songwriter's workshop a few years ago. It was something to hear them in a small room with 10 other people. They had just released their first album, and were hoping it would succeed. I saw them on the cover of 'acoustic guitar' a few months later !

Rayhall; Diana Krall's voice/music "excites" me. The other singers you mentioned don't (except for Natalie Cole's jazz ballads). Listening to Barbra Streisand max out her voice three quarters of the way through every song doesn't do much for me. "Beauty is in the 'ear' of the beholder, IMHO. Exciting Listening. Craig.