Yeah, but does she look good on the cover?

Edit: All Ronstadt threads should contain at least one image.

Behave yourselves, boys! We're supposed to be listeners here, remember? I just posted a strong recommendation for a Hilary Hahn recording, but it wasn't because she's so damned cute.

There is always going to be some kind of discussion about female performers looks versus their talent and it is always going to be rather silly. Linda Ronstadt has always been a very talented singer and a very attractive woman, one has nothing to do with the other. k.d.lang is a one of the greatest singers, male or female, alive today and I don't find her all that attractive but I don't care, she got such a great voice. Celine Dion, whom everyone seems to love, I not only can't stand her singing, I find her unattractive to boot. Diana Krall I can take or leave depending on my mood.

But more to the point, I don't base my opinion of a musician's talent on their physical attractiveness, but rather on their musical skills. Sarah Vaughn may have been as big as a house in her last years but that didn't stop her from singing with those beautiful pipes of hers.

Anyway all of this still doesn't get Yiangos for the hook for not including a picture of the always beautiful goddess LINDA in his initial post!!!

Speaking of jazz singers, I used to really like Cassandra Wilson but lately she has become less and less of a pure jazz singer and more of a blues/folk singer. She's still doing good work but it's not quite jazz anymore.

Diane Schurr I've always felt to be the white man's answer to Dianne Reeves, anyway I much prefer Dee Dee Bridgewater to either of those two.

OK gentlemen, you've drawn me into this stupid discussion again, but not to apoligize for my previous suggestions. Have to agree on Celine Dion - not worth seeing or hearing, to be avoided at all costs.

Now, to address the cardinal examples of beautiful women's voices coming from bodies that could never have been called beautiful, I submit Ella and Mama Cass.

The old joke that ended, "...wake up and sing, damn it!!" wasn't without some basis in reality.

Quote:
OK gentlemen, you've drawn me into this stupid discussion again, but not to apoligize for my previous suggestions. Have to agree on Celine Dion - not worth seeing or hearing, to be avoided at all costs.

Now, to address the cardinal examples of beautiful women's voices coming from bodies that could never have been called beautiful, I submit Ella and Mama Cass.

The old joke that ended, "...wake up and sing, damn it!!" wasn't without some basis in reality.

Hi Clay,

Another example of a beautiful voice from a less than optimal vessel would the wonderful Phoebe Snow.

Now I must confess that I haven't clue about that old joke and I know my fair share of old jokes, be they about frogs ("At my age I'd rather have a talking frog"), pigs ("And now I'm taking him to the beach!!"), sheep ("They'll do that, you know") or ducks ("Got any grapes!!!")

And finally, why oh why you keep on forgetting to add a Ronstadt picture to your post?!?!?!?

Edit: I figured that since the picture has Linda holding what appears to be a bottle of wine, perhaps Buddha and Clifton will now join the discussion.

Heck, I'm stumped trying to come up with any great living female jazz vocalists.

Someone just recommended Brisa Roche to me, and I'm waiting for my Amazon order to arrive and see what the deal is.

I think the problem is so bad, that's it's one of the reasons for high end Hi Fi to be not as successful as it "should" be.

There's no great, current vocalist to drive demand.

What we seem to have out there right now are about three types of female jazz vocalists:

1) Totally derivitive. Like Madelenne Peyroux, who provide a ripped off sound that suffers by comparison to its inspiration.

2) A group of "Wynton Marsalis" singers, like Diana Krall, who are interested in the classic jazz canon, but in a more "re-creative" way than in an original way. These girls are technically proficient, but rarely start fires.

3) Small singers, who like to coo out teeny tiny little jazz tunes, but never rise to the level of jazz as having more energy than a Mazzy Star show.

I can't recall the last time I heard a chick who "owned" the mic and the tune, to tell ya the truth.

Linda's Nelson Riddle discs kick the crap out of 99% of the female jazz vocals happening right now - and I don't really mean that as being all that complimentary.

Linda pic...

It's been a long time since I've heard any tracks, but, my friend Neil felt Tahna Running was a real enough deal to release some CDs (I only worked on the 1st one and I never got the final release.) I'm not sure I heard what he heard.

http://www.tahnarunning.com/tahna_timeforlove.html

http://www.tahnarunning.com/tahna_songisyou.html

Jeff,

Absolutely killer requisite Linda picture. I knew there was a reason that you were chosen to be our candidate for President.

Buddha,

I basically agree with your assessment of the sad state of (living) female jazz vocalists but I do think that are a few worth watching, like Cassandra and Dee Dee. I'm also somewhat turned off to jazz vocals in general because of the tendency of one the local jazz stations here in the NYC area to over play jazz vocals. This station plays any new vocal release no matter how bad it is. If you know someone who's a jazz singer with a CD out, send it to WBGO-FM in Newark NJ and they will play it. Most likely with no questions asked. And the more it sounds like Bill Murray's airport lounge singer from Saturday Night Live, the better.

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I do not have this one but i do have the double cd "Round Midnight" and it is excellent.Strange thing though,cd 1 is mastered differently than cd 2 or to make it simpler,the two
cds,soundwise,are different.
Oops,no pic again.

Hi Yiangos,

Next time you forget the all important Linda pic may I suggest that you use the edit feature and do a web search to find an appropriate photo and add it to your post. All will be forgiven, I promise.

I do own all (I think) of the NR/LR standards lps. I still like Jane Monheit, Janis Seigel (Manhattan Transder fame), adding Christy Baron from Chesky, some Tierney Sutton, and Diana Krall due to her excellent piano skills and an excellent voice. Her beauty seems to bother some people and how she uses it in marketing. I am not sure what makes a less arttractive singer a better vocalist?

The audio quality on these lps is excellent. Love Jeff's VPI photo. I do have TT envy.