let me start by eliminating jimmy scott. he is one of the best female voices maybe. were he genderly female, i might be able to get into his singing. ENOUGH of that.
sinatra is surely one after he stopped using vibrato in his singing, and especially with swinging ensembles like basie and nelson riddle.
elvis, the KING. he never should have doubted himself to death.
nat cole of course, anyone remember his tune-haji baba?
mark murphy-whom i categorize as an academic singer-you can understand the lyrics and their meanings. he guides you right where he intends you to follow him. theres a program of him on BET Jazz channel where he looks awful-his toupee was a self conscious artifact but he still swings hard and gives a great performance.
kurt elling MUST follow. criticized for trying to come off as TOO HIP. fact is, he IS that hip. his vocal athletics is matched by few alive today. that he is a protege of mark murphy should be obvious.
bobby darin, jazz singer extrordinaire; we lost a real treasure at the age of 38. it makes you wonder what he MIGHT have done.
willie nelson-singer. not country singer (although he is that as well) but SINGER. his 'stardust' album is a must have.
and johnny cash along with burt bacharach are non singers who you REALLY want to hear sing.
i always resisted louis armstrong as a singer (great trumpeter of course) in my earlier years, but maturity made me actually listen-a great expressionist.
ray charles, what a talent jazz, blues, country, pop, and big band leader (check out 'baby, i got news for you'!).
i wasnt a fan of elvis costello until i heard his vocal on the mingus big band -tonight at noon: three or four. i couldnt identify the singer who was going to the limits, taking chances, and truly swinging until the dj back-announced the tune i completely fell out to know it was the once nasally punk rocker!
michael franks-early on, before the genre of 'smooth jazz' had been coined, he captivated me with his slick lyrics (sort of like a jazz dan hicks) and smooth delivery. the smooth jazz moniker denigrates his early work. he always had great personnel lists, dave sanborn did some of his best work then.
roy orbison-vastly underrated. he was considered to be an equal to elvis in the uk. one of his last-mystery girl-is as good as his best
i could go on of course, but someone has to stop me and i guess it will be me.
...regards...tr
