Sunday Juke Joint #2

TUNAGE

In the late 80s, I officially became a jazz fan. I began to recognize the sound, tempo, and style of the different sub-genres. Only a handful of my hands listened to jazz, so I was on my own in discovering where my tastes were within the genre. I started out with contemporary jazz, or what is often referred to as smooth jazz. Years later, my late wife, who was also a fan, introduced me to the female jazz vocalist by purchasing a box set of the Great Ladies of Jazz. Instantly, I was hooked. Initially, I listened to the older stuff from the 50s, but later, I branched into female vocalists of any era. So tonight on Sunday Juke Joint I’m going share of my favorite tracks from female vocalists.

Of all of the female artists I’ve enjoyed over the years, the music of Nina Simone is my definite favorite. I could listen to her all day and have. Here are three of my favorites.

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My mother was huge Diana Ross fan and played her music non-stop through my childhood. I remember she purchased an album called “Lady Sings the Blues.” The album featured Diana Ross singing Billie Holiday standards. It wasn’t long before I was listening to the album as much as my mother. We watched the movie together. I told my wife this story and when I returned from a training assignment years later, she had purchased a complation album called, “Lady Sings … Jazz and Blues.” It featured all the tracks I was familiar with and a few more. Here is one of my favorite tracks from both albums.

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Here is a track I first heard performed by Diana Ross, but I prefer Billie Holiday’s version.

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Next, I going to share a group instead of an individual, but you hear these versions of the same track. You will be able to see how these tracks made my list this evening. The name of the group is Incognito, an acid jazz group. The track I want to share is called, “Deep Waters” off the their Positivity album. My wife brought it home after rifling through the bargain CD bin at the local exchange.

Incognito is a British Jazz group released this album 1993. I loved the entire album and have played several times over the years. Maysa Leak is the source of the powerful voice you are about to listen to.

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In 2006, Incognito released an album called “Bees, Things, & Flowers.” which I picked up a few years later. My wife never got an opportunity to listen to this album. She was deep in battle with her illness. I didn’t listen to it until three years after her passing. I didn’t even look at the track list. I just pressed play and listened. Then I heard this version of “Deep Waters”. It blew me away. I’d never heard an artist change a track so much. Each of the these version speak differently to me. Let me shut up, and let you see for yourself.

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The last female artist of the night is Melody Gardot. Gardot isn’t an artist that I usually would listen to, but a fellow writer shared a track with me and I was intrigued. Gardot had two albums out at the time and I listened to both albums. Here is a interesting from each album.

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Gardot’s voice isn’t what I’m used but her music does something to me.

I hope you enjoyed me rambling on about female jazz vocalists this evening. Perhaps, you may have found something that interests you.

~thank you for reading~