Best Singer of All Time is...

[PYP]

Can't answer that, but will answer "which singers affect you the most?" (sorry).  Women:  Lizz Wright, Ane Brun, Karrin Allyson, Magos Herrera,  (among many, many others).   Men:  Gregory Porter, Johnny Hartman, Milton Nascimento,  (among others).

[PYP]

3 minutes ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

 

Totally agree! But all those things can be incorporated into one's vote for best singer. So, it's not just about technique or things like a gifted range.

 

How about longevity or range within their genre?  Thinking about Anthony Benedetto (aka Tony Bennett - 94 and still performing) and Samuel Ramey (check out his repertoire).  Wonderful voices which moved many people over an extended number of years and performances.  

[PYP]

13 hours ago, GregWormald said:

At the moment I'm following the performances of Diana Ankudinova with chills and goosebumps often.

 

A vocal coach reacts to hearing her for the first time:  

 

 

[PYP]

9 hours ago, ducatirider said:

  Ella Fitzgerald for Jazz

 

This reminds me of one of the greatest duets:  Ella (Fitzgerald) and Louis (Armstrong).  

[PYP]

1 hour ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

Here is one with some high notes. This girl has a God-given gift. It certainly may not be everyone's cup of tea but at age 17 I think she is outstanding and cannot wait to see were she develops "as an artist" when she either writes or is given her own music.

 

(take on me)

 

extraordinary talent and so well-developed at 17.  Look at how she moves to and from the microphone for maximum effect.  

[PYP]

4 hours ago, christopher3393 said:

Jonna Jinton

 

 

Strange.  I started to get closer to the screen...something to ruminate...

[PYP]

1 hour ago, gmgraves said:

Well, Louis Armstrong did have a unique voice all right. Not sure what he did was considered “singing“, though. OTOH, it was fun to listen to him.

 

 I think that is a common reaction, however, I seemed to remember that several singers, including Frank Sinatra, thought Louis could sing:  

 

"As early as 1924, Armstrong was summarily dismissed by bandleader Fletcher Henderson when he asked to sing on a record.

Henderson's disparaging comments were neither the first nor the last Armstrong would hear about his singing. Ironically, he soon became the central singer in jazz and pop history. His gritty tenor mirrored his trumpet style and influenced practically every singer in pop and jazz. Artists including Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughan deeply admired Armstrong's singing and used his example to mold their own vocal styles."

 

On Ella and Louis, the juxtaposition of the fluid and the gritty delivery is just a wonderful stew.  I especially like when Ella imitates his singing.  You can "hear" them smiling at each other in appreciation of their respective talents.  

[PYP]

Frank and Louis:

 

 

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20 minutes ago, Bill Brown said:

I wish I could find the documentary on Louis' singing I saw years ago.  Historical context is important in this.  If you can think of non-classical singing before him in the 20's (wish I could demonstrate), you could see.  What he started was completely unique, just like his trumpet playing, and influences everything we have heard in non-classical since.

 

Exactly.  He was an innovator and a natural.  What is is that each of the great singers "took" from his singing?  That may be the best way to appreciate his singing.  

[PYP]

On 8/26/2020 at 7:46 AM, JoeWhip said:

Come on guys, everyone in the know knows who the best singer is! 😎

 

 

Is is true that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?  

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8 hours ago, ARQuint said:

 

 

Soprano: Joan Sutherland

Alto: Marian Anderson

Tenor: Luciano Pavarotti

Baritone: Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau

 

Always enjoy listening to Kathleen Battle (soprano).  To my ear (untrained), effortless transitions within her range and crystalline/perfect high notes.  We heard her in a small, outdoor setting (Caramoor Festival, NYC), which seems to me the best way to hear musicians/singers (also heard her in typical, larger indoor settings).    

[PYP]

let's add:  Cesária Évora.  Hauntingly beautiful and natural voice.  

[PYP]

9 hours ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

 

So you are here to drum up business, huh!🤣

 

After reading the thread thus far, I think I might need some help....

[PYP]

2 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Some of us could've told you that long before this thread :~)

 

how about a group session?  seems we could use it.  

[PYP]

15 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Which is better? Both paintings and both pointillism.

 

 

 

the second.  I never gave permission for my portrait!

[PYP]

I'm not sure about "better" but, to me, great art can cause a state of awe, not just enjoyment.  Standing in front of a huge Matisse (if my memory is correct) at the National Gallery, I was literally frozen in place and it was if a wind was blowing by me.  That to me is "high" art.  Mozart often calms me immediately and puts the crazy world into perspective.  If that happens for some folks with BS, that is great.  It just doesn't for me.  It does get a bit complicated when BS is also selling sex appeal.  That doesn't seem fitting somehow and I'm not being prudish here.  It has its place (everywhere in advertising, for example), but isn't the main point in "high" art.  

 

I can explain more during our group session with the audiophile shrink.  

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1 hour ago, audiobomber said:

IMO, Picasso's work was a joke perpetrated on the art world. They still haven't gotten it, but in the future I believe it will be revealed as a hoax. 😶

 

Do you mean the stuff that followed his more "realistic art" (that is, primitivism and then cubism)?  

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7 hours ago, gmgraves said:

I have always thought that Picasso was a bit of a charlatan. I’ve often wondered if his work wasn’t a joke perpetrated on the art world on purpose by him. Of course we can but wonder. Because there’s no way to know.

 

One of his sculptures in particular made me wonder if he was "messing about" since it used stuff he found laying around and turned that into "art."  But, I had an uncle who did the same thing in later life (his second career) and he wasn't trying to perpetrate anything -- he didn't really care about anyone's reaction, just how it made him feel to express himself.  He knew if it meant something to him, it would mean something to someone else, even only one person.  Was he an artist?  I don't know what the best definition is, but I do know that I was deeply affected by some of my uncle's pieces.  My uncle made seemingly simple stuff, but he wasn't a simple man.

 

I do think Picasso was a bit of s showman.  In the art world, the artist's personal story is important too.  

[PYP]

13 minutes ago, sphinxsix said:

BTW I've just began thinking quite seriously about the fact that as for art I'm mostly an objectivist

 

Interesting.  To me, the objectivist part is, for example, the artist's place in history, artistic movement, styles over time, etc.  But when looking at art, all of that can fall away and it becomes just pure perception.

[PYP]

31 minutes ago, Summit said:

Vocal instrumentalists - Bobby McFerrin

 

+1.    ethereal voice.   Met him on the Amtrak when he was going to a recording session.   Wonderful person.  A gentle soul.    

[PYP]

Best castrati:  The Bee Gees

 

 

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13 hours ago, photonman said:

Okay, I have to show off my Picasso with all your guys talk about him.  I apologize in advance if this offends anyone BUT it is modern art by a true master!  I am sure Chris will remove if this is too off topic.

 

 

Why would this offend anyone?  Long ago, I've witnessed something similar on the New York City subway at 4 in the morning.  Of course, returning home from a concert, I can't say that there weren't a few free radicals in my bloodstream.  

 

All joking aside, it is interesting to consider whether an artist who could not draw with the realistic skill of Picasso (when he was into that), could have produced this.  This isn't conceptual art (only).  But I see that the provocateur  @sphinxsix has started a separate thread for these musings.