How 'bout Dinah Washington? Vocal power of Ella Fitzgerald, but much more interesting.
. . . And I know it’s kitschy to like Judy Garland, but she WAS a damn good singer.
Oh, yes, and Helen Morgan. But Bessie Smith was still No. 1 in my book.
I know I’ll get tomatoes thrown at me for this, but I’m putting forward Diana Krall as an excellent jazz singer.
Stop! Let me explain!
I’m not talking about taking the place of either Grande Dame but simply as someone in today’s jazz movement that has a lovely, expressive voice.
My pick is Dinah Washington for a great early singer.
Overall, I have been less impressed with Billie Holliday than with Sarah Vaughan, but I don’t have a particular reason. I’ve just generally been more charmed by Vaughan’s stuff.
I haven’t formed any strong opinions about whether Holliday is overrated, however I would like to know why in the hell I’ve been hearing about her all my life, and not hearing about Una Mae Carlisle. Mercy. I have an LP with her doing a duet on I Can’t Give You Anything but Love with Fats Waller, and I tell you I could just swoon.
Another thing I don’t understand with Billie Holliday is why so many people soil their pants over the song God Bless the Child. It interests me very little. But I think a lot of people must feel obliged to pretend to dig it because they think they’re not hip if they don’t.
And I agree that Ella Fitzgerald is the bee’s knees. She gets sneered at for being `pop’ sometimes, but the fact is that she was a fantastic singer who sang accessible tunes. I can’t fault her for that. Some people complain that she shows off her gimmicks too much. They also say that about Mariah Carrey. But just compare Ella Fitzgerald showing off her skills with Mariah Carrey showing off hers, and I’m afraid it’ll hardly look like Carrey’s showing off at all. I have a recording of a seven minute version of How High the Moon that Carrey would absolutely pop a lung trying to imitate.
Did I hear someone say Bessie Smith? Here’s a heartbreaking choice to have to make: Bessie Smith vs. Nina Simone. Simone did some covers of Smith tunes, and I just can’t decide which I like the best.
…this is a damn good thread, W.C.…
…for you to POOPAH on? 
In all seriousness, I wish I had not called Ms. Holiday “over-rated” in the OP. I could have chosen a phrase which would have made the point without diminishing her brilliance. All of the vocalists you folks have mentioned are wonderful. I do, however, find it comforting to know I’m not the only Sarah Vaughan fan in the Known Universe.
Nina is incredible. I first heard her on the Stealing Beauty soundtrack - “My Baby Just Cares For Me” - and then I discovered “Sinnerman” and “I Put A Spell On You.”
I first listened to Billie when I was 14 - I bought “This Is Jazz Vol 17” I think. “These Foolish Things” blows me away every time - the first time I heard it, I felt like music finally made sense. I now own 3 Ella CDs and 7 Billie albums; I bought the “Ultimate Sarah Vaughn” from Amazon about a year ago. I like her voice, but nothing could compete with my memories of hearing Billie sing for the first time.
Nacho4Sara:
Run, do not walk, but run, right out to your local CD store and pick up a specially priced set by Nina Simone that has both “The Incredible Nina Simone” and “Nina Simone - Live At Town Hall.” Amazing stuff. She does a number called “You Can Have Him, I Don’t Want Him” that is, to me, just amazing. Sweet, sweet stuff.
She also did a song on Sesame Street called “In My Head” that was accompanied by some very surreal cartoon work. I loved it - my daughter, who is 2, just looked perplexed.
All right! I’m not the only Nina Simone fan! I downloaded Sinnerman off Napster and I was hooked. Only have one CD so far but BMG actually has a great selection of her stuff!