Best female vocals on CD

When one compares Diana Krall as a singer to the great jazz singers of all time, can someone please tell me what she brings to a song that the others don't? As far as I am concerned, she brings almost no interpretation, no phrasing, no vocal control, no style. It is not enough, or should not be enough to have a husky, lush voice which is well recorded. Her producer, Tommy Lipuma and engineer worked on Natalie Cole's CD "Take A Look" which is also excellently recorded. But aside from that, it does display what Natalie Cole can do with a song. Even though not a pure jazz singer, Natalie has a big pure voice, she can hit notes right on, and she can make vocal changes which can personalize a song in the way that Diana Krall can't. And I don't think Natalie is one of the greats. Diana's inability to make the vocal changes which personalize her vocal repertoire is particularly evident in that D.K. sings a lot of jazz standards and for every song she has recorded, there are other renditions available which are not challenged by her interpretations. As a jazz singer she is lacking vocal improvisational ability. This is something that Ella did not lack for. Ella Fitzgerald, probably the greatest popular singer of the twentieth century, invented whole vocal styles of singing. Of course there are other great singers in and out of jazz. I don't want to pit all my choices against everyone else's but if Diana Krall is a great vocalist, one should be able to verbalize something beyond that her voice is "pleasing" or "exciting". I understand that the appreciation of music is a subjective experience but since it is subjective, the need to comunicate this experience almost compels us to share the "why" as well as the "who" in whom we choose. What is it that D.K. does vocally hat puts her in the upper echelons of the female singers who have ever been recorded?

This is a pretty good thread. There are so many great singers out there, each with a different style and genre of music. I think some of the standouts would be Holly Cole (Which - to "Inscrutable" - does have a CD out titled "Don't smoke in Bed" -AWESOME); Mary Travers; Whitney Houston (sober version); Sarah McLachlan; Karen Carpenter; Enya; Patsy Cline (sp?) AND (I'm gonna catch hell for this one) Madonna. Say what you will about this last pick but she's got a great voice.

I agree with Rayhall. I find it painful to listen to Krall's "interpretations" of standards. Just listen to Billie Holiday sing All or Nothing At All- and then listen to Krall's version on Love Scenes - it makes me want to gag. Her cds ARE well recorded though. Billie Holiday gets under your skin, drills through your veins and changes your chemical composition forever - if one accomplished little else in life other than listen to her sing, it would still be a life well spent. Nina Simone is another jazz singer that ranks up there on the celestial scale. I love Ella - I just wish the instrumentation on a lot of her work were less syrupy. Cassandra Wilson's voice is amazing, but does anyone ever get through her albums in their entirety? Holly Cole's performance of Jersey Girl - YES! Margo Timmins is phenomenal - the most EXPRESSIVE singer in rock,IMHO. Joan Osborne (whatever happened to her?) sounded incredibly versatile and exciting in Relish.

Try Carla Lother on the Chesky label. Beautiful alto/soprano voice with nice musical arrangements.

For Jazz fans: Check out Dee Dee Bridgewater. The CD is "Live at Yoshi's". This is an absolutely stunning CD both musically and artistically. She shows off her entire vocal repertoire from soft delicate ballads to belting out raw, powerful songs to scat singing. She is backed by talented, but not well-kown musicians. The dynamics on this CD are beyond anything I have ever heard on a commercial recording. Listen to the tambourine in the opening on track 2 "Slow Boat to China".