Sometimes work can be fun. I recently completed an assignment for The Global Jukebox to put together a list of the greatest jazz singers of all time, along with representative songs to showcase their greatness. It’s been very enjoyable listening and curating the list, and I learned alot along the way. For example, Nina Simone used to live in my neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Originally I had wanted to do the top ten or maybe twenty artists, but it was hard to stop. I extended it out to thirty, albeit with fewer songs as you get on down the line. The list features both old and newer singers, spanning the entire history of jazz. Some central to the genre, others maybe coming in from neighboring forms such as blues or pop, but nevertheless great contributors to the legacy of jazz as an art form, and particularly to the vocals. It also really gets across the variety oh jazz styles out there and how it’s evolved over time.<\/p>\n
Even though list is definitive because I say it is, naturally that’s absurd. It’s necessarily pretty subjective. Of course Ella, Satchmo and Lady Day are 1-2-3. After that you can debate the relative ranking of the performers or maybe point out someone that I neglected to include. That’d be a fun debate. Regardless, all the performers and songs listed here are pretty great.<\/p>\n
Here’s a link to the playlist on Spotify. Enjoy!<\/p>\n
https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/playlist\/4VZSjgb7157yUQ9KmrSvvd?si=S0mnQa89RGK3_Og5q0KVRg<\/a><\/p>\n …<\/p>\n Greatest Jazz Singers of All Time for The Global Jukebox<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n 1. Ella Fitzgerald<\/b> – How High the Moon, I’m Beginning to See the Light (w\/ Duke Ellington), My Romance, I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, The Lady is a Tramp<\/p>\n 2. Louis Armstrong<\/b> – Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Jeepers Creepers, Cuban Pete, Hello Dolly, What Wonderful World<\/p>\n Bonus: Ella & Loius<\/b> – Cheek to Cheek, Dream a Little Dream<\/p>\n 3. Billie Holiday<\/b> – Gimme a Pig Foot and a Bottle of Beer, Strange Fruit, Lover Man, Stars Fell on Alabama, God Bless the Child<\/p>\n 4. Tony Bennett<\/b> – (I Left My Heart) In San Francisco, Anything Goes (w\/ Lady Gaga), There Will Never Be Another You (w\/ DaBrubeck)<\/p>\n 5. Sarah Vaughn<\/b> – Black Coffee, Lullaby of Birdland, Body and Soul<\/p>\n 6. Johnny Hartman<\/b> – Lush Life (w\/ John Coltrane), My One and Only Love (w\/ John Coltrane), Our Love is Here to Stay<\/p>\n 7. Frank Sinatra<\/b> – Fly Me to the Moon (w\/ Count Basie Orchestra), Summer Wind, Luck Be a Lady<\/p>\n 8. Dee Dee Bridgewater<\/b> – Afro Blue, St. James Infirmary (w\/ New Orleans Jazz Orchestra), Love from the Sun (w\/ Theo Croker)<\/p>\n 9. Kurt Elling<\/b> – Nature Boy, Matte Kudasai, Steppin’ Out<\/p>\n 10. Esperanza Spalding<\/b> – I Know You Know, Cuerpo Y Alma, Funk the Fear<\/p>\n 11. Gregory Porter<\/b> – Liquid Spirit, Holding On<\/p>\n 12. Chet Baker<\/b> – Do It the Hard Way, Everything Happens to Me<\/p>\n 13. Nat King Cole<\/b> – Unforgettable, Smile<\/p>\n 14. Shirley Horn<\/b> – A Foggy Day, Makin’ Whoopee<\/p>\n 15. Mel Torm\u00e9<\/b> – They Can’t Take That Away from Me, The Christmas Song<\/p>\n 16. Etta Jones<\/b> – Bye Bye Blackbird, Etta’s Blues<\/p>\n 17. Joe Williams<\/b> – Five O’Clock in the Morning, Don’t Get Around Much Anymore<\/p>\n 18. Nina Simone<\/b> – I Put a Spell on You, Mississippi Goddam<\/p>\n 19. Bessie Smith<\/b> – Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out, Devil’s Gonna Git You<\/p>\n 20. Ray Charles<\/b> – Mess Around, America the Beautiful<\/p>\n 21. Joni Mitchell<\/b> – Goodbye Porkpie Hat<\/p>\n 22. Billy Eckstine<\/b> – Oo Bop Sh’bam<\/p>\n 23. Dinah Washington<\/b> – Destination Moon<\/p>\n 24. Jazzmeia Horn<\/b> – Out the Window<\/p>\n 25. Patti Cathcart<\/b> – I’ve Got Just About Everything (w\/ Tuck Andress)<\/p>\n 26. Dianna Krall<\/b> – Peel Me a Grape<\/p>\n 27. Bobby McFerrin<\/b> – Thinkin’ About Your Body<\/p>\n 28. Norah Jones<\/b> – Don’t Know Why<\/p>\n 29. Harry Connick Jr.<\/b> – It Had to Be You<\/p>\n 30. Etta James<\/b> – At Last<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sometimes work can be fun. I recently completed an assignment for The Global Jukebox to put together a list of the greatest jazz singers of all time, along with representative songs to showcase their greatness. It’s been very enjoyable listening and curating the list, and I learned alot along the way. For example, Nina Simone … Continue reading “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,18],"tags":[46],"class_list":["post-4682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","category-software","tag-the-global-jukebox"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}