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Best Female Singing Voice

#289
When worlds collide ... sometimes it works, often it doesn't. I remember watching a thing on PBS a number pf ears ago, where Kiri Te Kanawa was teaming up with Andre Previn, Mundell Lowe, and Ray Brown, to try her hand at making a jazz record of sorts. She has a beautiful voice, but just couldn't really get the phrasing. Ray tried to demonstrate the use of spacing and emphasis ... but it's kind of opposite to some of what's taught classically (control, sustaining notes, reading what's on the page). She gave it a game try, wasn't horrible (she does have a great voice, after all), but didn't seem to quite get there. Just goes to show how it can be different strokes for different folks. Ability doesn't always translate across genres. Couldn't find that rehearsal clip, but here they are in concert. It's okaaaay ... sort of.

 
#292
There can't be a single best voice, because there are so many styles and contexts. What Helen O'Connell excels at would be something Elizabeth Fraser would not be good at, and vice versa. Kate Bush and P.P. Arnold are both superb at what they do, but each would probably sound way out of place trying to sing the other's material. Same with Ida James and Annie Haslam. Or Shirley Bassey and Katie Jane Garside.
 

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