Obscure & Neglected Female Singers Of Jazz & Standards (1930s to 1960s)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Ridin'High, Sep 4, 2016.

  1. .crystalised.

    .crystalised. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Edmonton
    That cover art was ahead of its time for 1960. Very nice. I'll have to check out the tunes.
     
  2. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    I'd buy that for the cover!!
     
  3. Nathan Aaron

    Nathan Aaron Forum Resident

    - it's a bit sought after because it's so great (the music AND the cover!) She's also still alive and doing music!
     
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  4. vanhooserd

    vanhooserd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    She was Mrs. Kenton for a while & appeared in Playboy. Semi-nude. I recently got her 'Ann, Man!' album on CD but it's not my cup of tea.
     
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  5. vanhooserd

    vanhooserd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    She was married to Al Cohn, who titled one of his tunes "Ah-Moore". Looks like Al on the cover.
     
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  6. vanhooserd

    vanhooserd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    David Lynch made great use of her "Love Letters" in his film 'Blue Velvet'.
     
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  7. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Just because I don't like some of the nominations can't be taken as an opinion. The problem is that some won't play - they just give a "This video is not available" message. It may be due to legalities of where the video is from and the country the wannabe viewer lives in. :(
     
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  8. qwerty

    qwerty A resident of the SH_Forums.

    No one has mentioned the great Bessie Smith. Just about everything she did was a classic (so I hope that it qualifies for this thread).

    I often think of one comment I read commenting that she doesn't have the appeal that other artists of have had (eg. Armstrong), which went something like this - "She is too jazzy for the blues market, and too blues-y for the jazz market". As a listener who prefers blues to jazz, I find her style very jazzy - but that doesn't stop me from loving her work.
     
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  9. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Jane Morgan FASCINATION



    I first started seriously hearing this one when I got the cd soundtrack of The Diner. I was really taken with long instrumental introduction. I would love to hear a clean Mono version on cd.

    I don't think she is as obscure as some of the other singers, but she's not on Ridin' Highs list :)

    By the way, how many people bought Jaye P Morgan wanting to hear the other Morgan? :D
     
  10. qwerty

    qwerty A resident of the SH_Forums.

    LaVern Baker.

    A wonderful R+B singer. She qualifies for this thread with the wonderful ''LaVern Baker sings Bessie Smith'' on Atlantic Records in 1958. As I said above, everything Bessie recorded is a standard. The album includes "Nobody Knows When You're Down and Out", which is undeniably a jazz standard, so it meets the topic criteria.

    There are two issues of the LP, it is issued on CD as a twofer. I have the silver album, complete with pressing defect (and twofer).

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]


     
  11. rob68

    rob68 Senior Member

    Location:
    Michigan
    You've got me listening to everything Pat Thomas on You Tube.

    Loving Anne Phillips too. Nathan, you've got great taste.

    I think we should all come to your house for a weekend of jazz & cocktails.

     
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  12. Nathan Aaron

    Nathan Aaron Forum Resident

    - Thank you for the compliment! That would be awesome! :)
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2016
  13. Nathan Aaron

    Nathan Aaron Forum Resident

    - I've never been able to get into Jane Morgan. No clue why! Maybe one day!
     
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  14. Nathan Aaron

    Nathan Aaron Forum Resident

    Mavis Rivers. (I can't believe I forgot to mention her! And I'm almost surprised she wasn't on the opening "do not touch" list! She's so excellent, and on some of her albums she almost literally sounds like Ella Fitzgerald! She did an album with Shorty Rogers that is perfection. She's only got six or seven albums, and I've got them all! Love her!)

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  15. Nathan Aaron

    Nathan Aaron Forum Resident

    Pat Bowie. (Hard to find jazz singer. At first I honestly thought, especially given this was on the Prestige label, that it was a jazz album with a "cute girl cover" as were popular back in the day. And then someone started to sing!)

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  16. Nathan Aaron

    Nathan Aaron Forum Resident

    Annette Warren. (Another hard to find one, I just love this cover! Annette did vocal dubbing of such stars as Ava Gardner in the 1951 version of Show Boat, and Lucille Ball in both Fancy Pants and Sorrowful Jones.)

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    Another one that's "so rare", there are no tracks on YouTube. :cry:
     
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  17. David*M

    David*M Forum Resident

    I don't think I've seen anyone mention Ethel Ennis (sorry if I missed it, but she bears repeating). I'm shocked she's not better known/appreciated - equally comfortable with ballads or swingers.

     
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  18. Nathan Aaron

    Nathan Aaron Forum Resident

    Lainie Kazan. (Singer and TV/movie/Broadway star!)

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  19. Nathan Aaron

    Nathan Aaron Forum Resident

    Trudy Richards. (Just great, nothing more to say!)

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  20. Nathan Aaron

    Nathan Aaron Forum Resident

    Georgia Gibbs. (This album title "concerns" me. Ha!)

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  21. Nathan Aaron

    Nathan Aaron Forum Resident

    Jean Turner. (Now here's one I do not yet own, but hopefully will at some point. A later singer with Stan Kenton! I believe she only put out one solo album. She sounds a bit like Nancy Wilson, if you ask me!)

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  22. Nathan Aaron

    Nathan Aaron Forum Resident

    Gisele MacKenzie. (Just for the fun of it, she's a torch/Doris Day type singer, but let's throw in a Christmas album! This cover is just perfection! And the song is too much fun!)

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    (Non Christmas album example. Love the illustration of her!)
     
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  23. Nathan Aaron

    Nathan Aaron Forum Resident

    - Love LaVern Baker! Music on Vinyl is putting our her "Rock N' Roll" album reissue! I'm planning on picking that up!

    [​IMG]
     
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  24. rararabbits

    rararabbits Forum Resident

    Location:
    LA, CA, USA
    "Midcentury Minx", a compilation put together by Bob Stanley, was my gateway drug to a lot of this stuff. Fresh Sounds, a Spanish label, has been a great source of neglected chanteuses on CD - Betty Blake, Ethel Ennis, et al. I can pretty much buy blind (or unheard) from them with confidence!



    Modern Harmonic just reissued this: Claudia Thompson - "Goodbye to Love". Moody stuff, maybe a touch of Jeri Southern in her vocal timbre. She's a one-shot artist, and not much is known about her, which somehow adds to the allure...
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2016
  25. rararabbits

    rararabbits Forum Resident

    Location:
    LA, CA, USA

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