Items12The creator’s order
  1. 1Lady in Satin (1958)Lady in Satin (1958)Released 1 Jan 1958Recorded near the end of her life, Billie Holiday's voice carries the weight of every hardship she endured. Ray Ellis's lush, forty-piece string orchestra provides a soft velvet cushion against which Holiday's cracked, fragile phrasing sounds devastatingly human, turning standard love songs into…0
  2. 2Chet Baker Sings (1956)Chet Baker Sings (1956)Released 1 Jan 1956Chet Baker approach singing exactly like his trumpet playing: minimal, whisper-soft and devoid of vibrato. Backed by Russ Freeman's buoyant piano chords and Carson Smith's steady walking bass, Baker's gentle delivery on My Funny Valentine transformed West Coast cool into timeless nocturnal romance.0
  3. 3Ella and Louis (1956)Ella and Louis (1956)Released 1 Jan 1956The Oscar Peterson Quartet lays down relaxed, elegant swing for the greatest partnership in jazz history. Ella Fitzgerald's bell-like pitch and effortless agility contrast gloriously with Louis Armstrong's warm, gravelly rasp and golden trumpet stabs, radiating pure joy and mutual musical respect.0
  4. 4John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (1963)John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (1963)Released 1 Jan 1963Johnny Hartman remains the only vocalist John Coltrane ever recorded an entire album with. Hartman's rich, resonant baritone delivers lyrics with immaculate diction and gentle restraint, while Coltrane weaves lyrical, compassionate tenor saxophone obligatos around every vocal line on My One and…0
  5. 5Sarah Vaughan With Clifford Brown (1955)Sarah Vaughan With Clifford Brown (1955)Released 1 Jan 1955Sarah Vaughan possessed an astonishing three-octave range and operatic resonance that she wielded with absolute jazz freedom. Trading solos with brilliant young trumpeter Clifford Brown, she uses wide dynamic leaps, playful vibrato and microtonal bends to treat her voice as a master solo instrument.0
  6. 6Little Girl Blue (2014)Little Girl Blue (2014)Released 1 Jan 2014Nina Simone's debut announces an uncompromising musical mind. Accompanying herself on piano with intricate, Bach-inspired classical counterpoint while singing with smoky, theatrical gravity, she turns love songs like I Loves You, Porgy into profound statements of personal independence.0
  7. 7Helen Merrill (2019)Helen Merrill (2019)Released 1 Jan 2019Arranged by a twenty-one-year-old Quincy Jones with Clifford Brown on trumpet, Helen Merrill's breathy, smoky vocal delivery is a masterclass in intimacy. Her subtle pitch inflections on You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To float effortlessly over muted brass, creating a mood of quiet after-hours…0
  8. 8Mingus (1979)Mingus (1979)Released 1 Jan 1979A bold collaboration between Canadian songwriter Joni Mitchell and legendary composer Charles Mingus during his final months. Joined by Wayne Shorter on soprano sax and Jaco Pastorius on fretless bass, Mitchell crafts poetic lyrics over Mingus's complex melodies, treating words as improvisational…0
  9. 9Liquid Spirit (2014)Liquid Spirit (2014)Released 1 Jan 2014Gregory Porter revitalised vocal jazz by grounding it in gospel conviction, blue-collar storytelling and hard-swinging acoustic groove. His booming, velvet baritone commands the arrangements with soulful authority, leading handclapping rhythm sections and bluesy piano riffs with infectious charisma.0
  10. 10Esperanza (2008)Esperanza (2008)Released 1 Jan 2008Singing in English, Spanish and Portuguese while simultaneously locking down intricate, walking upright acoustic basslines, Esperanza Spalding redefined modern vocal jazz. Her airy, acrobatic vocal phrasing weaves seamlessly with Afro-Cuban percussion and Brazilian bossa nova harmonies.0