Latter-Day Jazz Vocals

5. Patricia Barber. Patricia Barber is not what one might expect from a "jazz singer." The first album I got from her was Modern Cool, which Downbeat raved about when it came out in the mid '90s; I bought it and didn't like it. Why? Barber is all about a new kind of cool, all understated and reserved. I expected a "jazz singer;" I wasn't expecting a whole new kind of jazz singing. Modern Cool is indeed, as Downbeat ascertained, a must-have classic, which ushered in a whole new sound in jazz, jazz for the 21st century. There is not a bad recording in Barber's collection. Check them all out.

4. Cassandra Wilson. The first record I got from CW was Blue Light 'Til Dawn, an awesome collection of obscure standards, blues tunes, whimsical originals, all with stand-out instrumentation and orchestration, proving Ms. Wilson to be one of our best arrangers in the modern day. The follow-up, New Moon Daughter, is great too, featuring covers of U2, Hank Williams, Neil Young, great originals, and a truly memorable rendition of Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit. All done with what had become Wilson's trademark "neo acoustic jazz" sound. The two other recordings in her catalog that have hit me well are Belly of the Sun and Glamoured (which features a cover of Lay Lady Lay...the way it should have been done originally, along with a great cover of Crazy (which Willie Nelson wrote and Patsy Cline made famous) and others).

3. Irene Kral. Going a little further back than the first two, Irene Kral should be on everyone's jazz-vocals list. The fact that she's not more widely known is a sobbing shame. Kral's life was cut short by cancer, but I have three words for you: Where is Love, a recording Kral left behind which might very well change your own life, should you seek it out. Features a young Alan Broadbent on piano, and some of the very best jazz singing ever. Period.

2. Abbey Lincoln. I got Lincoln's Devil's Got Your Tongue recording in the mid '90s and I've been hooked ever since. A woman once married to Max Roach, Lincoln came on the scene in the '50s as a fine, straight-ahead singer. Since, she has become a fine modern poet, and a singer with a truly unique style, wholly original, unmistakable, inimitable. Now, the real deal with AL: anyone who appreciates jazz vocals has got to see her performing live. I have never seen a singer (and I've seen quite a few) who can rip a person's heart out so effortlessly, by uttering a single line no less. I highly recommend any recording from Ms. Lincoln from the early '90s on. And I recommend even more highly that you run to hear her in person when you have the chance. You owe it to yourself and your progeny.

1. Kurt Elling. When I came across Kurt Elling's first record, Close Your Eyes, it didn't do much for me. As with much of the music I grow to love dearly, Elling's music took a little while to sink in for me. Same thing with Mark Murphy's music. Mark Murphy's name would be standing here in first place if Mr. Elling hadn't taken the torch so brilliantly well from Murphy. There is no better singer of vocalese going. And Elling's singing in general has improved by leaps and bounds in the last decade or so; on his first outings, there are times when any singer listening thinks, "Ouch! That must have hurt." Elling's vocalese, taken from a Charlie Haden solo (a pretty phenomenal feat on its own, considering Haden is a double bassist who always plays low), over the tune Moonlight Serenade on Elling's record, Flirting with Twilight, shows a singer at the very top of his artistic form, both technically and lyrically; the vocalese is totally brilliant in every way. Every one of Elling's records offers some outstanding material. Lover of jazz vocals? Get as much Elling as you can.