48: Mose Allison (1927-2016)Ī noted singer-songwriter from Tippo, Mississippi, Allison found a unique niche for himself in the jazz world with his often witty and elegantly wrought tunes infused with a piquant blues flavor. There are perceptible echoes of Billie Holiday in Peyroux’s phrasing and tone, but via a series of consistently fine albums, she has patented her own singular style. Originally from Athens, Georgia, Peyroux’s relocation to Paris, France, as a teenager, where she busked as a street musician singing and playing guitar, helped to shape her distinctive brand of bohemian-esque retro jazz. All of them are unique in their own way, and many have contributed greatly to the development of an art form that continues to evolve and which is being kept alive today by the emergence of new young stars such as Cecile McLorin Salvant and Jazzmeia Horn, who, in just a few years’ time, will probably find themselves placed on a list such as this.Ĭlick to load video 49: Madeleine Peyroux (born 1974) So jazz, as the following list of the 50 best jazz singers of all time confirms, has produced a welter of wonderful and contrasting voices, both male and female, over the years.
And then there are those haunted souls – namely Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, and Anita O’Day – whose troubled personal lives imbued their performances with a poignant emotional dimension that had a cathartic effect on their listeners. There were some singers, such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Nat “King” Cole, and Mark Murphy, who were multi-disciplined and could combine a vibrant athleticism with a silky, lush delivery, so that they were adept at both uptempo material and ballads. And in between those two extremes you’ll find vocal gymnasts – Jon Hendricks, Al Jarreau, and Bobby McFerrin spring to mind – alongside golden-voiced balladeers whose calling-card is a smoldering sensuality (think Peggy Lee, Julie London, Johnny Hartman, Chet Baker, Chris Connor, and Cassandra Wilson).
There have been an array of different – and some very singular – voices in jazz’s long and storied history, and all of them jostle for position among the best jazz singers of all time – from big, loud, robust ones, such as the blues-influenced shouters Bessie Smith, Joe Williams, and Jimmy Rushing, right down to delicate and refined songbirds, vividly exemplified by Blossom Dearie’s girlish pipes. With such an overwhelming amount of talent to consider, that makes it nigh-on impossible to compile a list of the 50 best jazz singers of all time. The jazz world has been renowned for producing a steady stream of super-talented virtuoso musicians – namely saxophonists, trumpeters, pianists, guitarists, and drummers – but it has also given us wonderful exponents of what is arguably the oldest and most personal musical instrument of them all: the human voice.
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