You HAVE to choose one. Who do you choose and why? And who had the most range. I personally think Billie had a very narrow range.

No wrong answer to this question.

Ella.

Why Ella?

scriptgirl said:

Why Ella?

Her versatility, light touch, crisp and clear vocals, and she's the first I was drawn to.

Gotcha

Ella all the way for me. Not a Billie fan, sorry. Not really too familiar with the others and yes I've heard of all of them.

Lady Day.

For somebody with such so-called "limited" range, she sure did influence a landscape of musicians and vocalists alike, all of those aforementioned ladies included(by their own admission too).

She was to vocalists what Louis Armstrong was to musicians, in the sense that their influence was unavoidable.

I absolutely love ALL of them, but on an emotional level, she hits home like nobody else. Her emotional depth ran very deep and thats why you hear many vocalists who are waaaaay more superior than her technically sing her praises.

Thanks Harle!

namepeace is correct, "there is no wrong answer"

Sassy

The Divine One

The Wondrous Voice of the Twentieth Century

SARAH VAUGHAN.

I know surprise... surprise.

Sarah Vaughan was a brilliant absolutely brilliant musician... what she had and what she brought to singing went beyond singing "beautifully". She and Ms. Fitzgerald are credited with elevating the role of the singer on par with instrumentalist. That's why Basie, Dizzy, Ellington, Hines, and Parker were crazier about her. Most importantly Vaughan is closely connected to the emergence of Bebop and her ability to sing like a horn, piano or sax complemented the emerging jazz genre.

Vaughan's voice?

She could sing very complex harmonies and slide in and out of notes/chord progressions so easily you assumed she did it all in one breath. While she was doing all of that she' would change pitch (vibrato) and threw in some tremolos if she felt like it; Vaughan could do things with her voice "bend notes" like no other singer that every lived. What she had what she posssessed unlike the ladies mentioned was totally tonal control. Influences or singers who borrowed or copied her style? There aren't any, a once in a life time vocalist.

Ms Trina, is Sarah greater than Aretha?

scriptgirl said:

Ms Trina, is Sarah greater than Aretha?

Yes.

in my opinion. i'm not all that crazy about comparing singers, artist who've mastered their craft and beyond. I could give you a synopsis of why Holiday, Fiztgerald, Washington & Vaughan are exceptional and will forever be linked at "The 4" and then every one else. When Vaughan was born the mold was broken, we shall never hear a voice like that again. We've been blessed.

MS Trina, I wanna hear the 'nopsis!

I agree with others here... no wrong answer... just a matter of preference.

I am not to familiar with Sarah Vaugh but I adore the rest...

If I had to choose, I would pick Dinah Washington, her voice.. pure magic.

scriptgirl said:

MS Trina, I wanna hear the 'nopsis!

It wasn't easy to pick just one because I could've pick any of these four ladies and tould you why I though they were best.

I totally understand why Harle chose Ms. Holiday. Really, there's music before her and then there's music after Holiday. Whatever Holiday may have lacked in melodic range, she made up for it on tone plus her amazing sense of rhythm. Holiday could deconstruct a song, she would add, take away, or substitute a chord. In other words she fought against "straight" lyrical harmonies. Anita O'day greatly influenced by Holiday's delivery, as a prime example.

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[Edited 10/9/12 20:20pm]

Ms Trina, let's hear about Ella and Dinah!

namepeace said:

scriptgirl said:

Why Ella?

Her versatility, light touch, crisp and clear vocals, and she's the first I was drawn to.

Amen

namepeace said:

scriptgirl said:

Why Ella?

Her versatility, light touch, crisp and clear vocals, and she's the first I was drawn to.

I have all four in my iPod. However, it is a toss up between Ella and Sarah for me. I love to hear Billie sing "Night and Day". I love Dinah's heart and passion.

However, Ella has a playful charm with her vocals and Sarah has that silky, smooth air in her delivery of a lyric. It is very hard for me to choose between Ella and Sarah.

TD3 said:

scriptgirl said:

Ms Trina, is Sarah greater than Aretha?

Yes.

in my opinion. i'm not all that crazy about comparing singers, artist who've mastered their craft and beyond. I could give you a synopsis of why Holiday, Fiztgerald, Washington & Vaughan are exceptional and will forever be linked at "The 4" and then every one else. When Vaughan was born the mold was broken, we shall never hear a voice like that again. We've been blessed.

I agree. Sarah is better than Aretha only because Aretha is tied to one genre which is gospel or soul music. Whether jazz singers have more range and can bend more notes. Aretha is the queen of soul. But, Sassy (Sarah) can do it all....

Jamzone333 said:

TD3 said:

Yes.

in my opinion. i'm not all that crazy about comparing singers, artist who've mastered their craft and beyond. I could give you a synopsis of why Holiday, Fiztgerald, Washington & Vaughan are exceptional and will forever be linked at "The 4" and then every one else. When Vaughan was born the mold was broken, we shall never hear a voice like that again. We've been blessed.

I agree. Sarah is better than Aretha only because Aretha is tied to one genre which is gospel or soul music. Whether jazz singers have more range and can bend more notes. Aretha is the queen of soul. But, Sassy (Sarah) can do it all....

I don't think there's a wrong answer, again, but I'll disagree to an extent Aretha's talent carries over into jazz very well and she's proven she can belt out an aria with the best of them. Her general range is well known, her extended range, underrated.

Aretha once made a live jazz album that was a knockout. I'll have to check which one it was and get back to you.