Most unusual/mesmerizing female voice.

Yma Sumac, unusual for sure and one for the ages.

I have never heard any human being approach what she does with her voice. The range is absolutely spellbounding. Now it is another issue altogether whether her voice could be considered mesmerizing.

My personal favorite is Sarah Vaughn, the great contralto. She is both unusual and at her best mesmerizing. While Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzsgerald, both contemporaries get more of the accolades I feel there is more emotion in her performances simply because of her vocal range which is the greatest among jazz singers. Her pitch is absolutely perfect and she can get into the bass range of male singers which is most unusual among female vocalists. While her voice got deeper as she got older she never lost the emotion she could evoke in her performances. Billie Holiday I feel is a favorite because of her vulnerability which the Divine One didn't convey to the same degree and is therefore more appealing to more. I get that for sure.

I am really surprised she hasn't been mentioned till now. I'm sorry, but some of the above choices are real lightweights in comparison. Check out Sarah Vaughn.

If you like Mazzy Star, check out Trespassers William (Anna-Lynne Williams/Lotte Kestner), and Lori Carson (Golden Palominos)

thx for the heads up Jax. good stuff.

i've been liking ms sandoval for many years now. enjoyed her in mazzy starr then later... jesus and mary chain. her more recent work with massive attack is really good too imho. not sure her current band, "the warm intentions" is my cup-o-tea but the older stuff mentioned above still makes the hair on my neck stand up. technically, she's not in the same league as many others mentioned in this thread. but if "haunting" and "mesmerizing" are the mark.....she's a contendert. hot as hell too! =).

Levy03 - I share the same high opinion you have of her work with Mazzy Star. That music though requires, for me, that I be in a certain mood or it can be really depressing. In the right mood, I really love it. Absolutely it is mesmerizing and trance like. I also agree on her latest project with "the warm intentions" - I was disappointed by that effort. Agree on the heat level. Lori Carson is quite beautiful as well. I'd qualify the recommendations above: For Trespassers William, the out of print, "Anchor", which is an outstanding debut (hope they put it back in print so others can enjoy it without paying the $ it's now fetching), and "Different Stars" would be my strong preference over their recent effort. For Lori Carson, again, earlier work seems to connect with me more strongly; Golden Palominos "Pure" and "This is how it Feels", and Lori Carson's solo album, "Everything I Touch Runs Wild".