Women in Jazz

Wallflower, by Diana Krall
Wallflower, released just this year, is Krall’s twelfth studio album. Featuring covers of songs by Elton John (“Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word”), the Eagles (“Desperado”), Randy Newman (“Feels Like Home”) and Bob Dylan (the titular “Wallflower”), this albums is more consciously pop-oriented than Krall’s previous work, but still shines a light on her savory vocals. Producer David Foster keeps Krall’s accompaniment minimal and string-heavy, which works best on “California Dreamin’,” a Mamas and the Papas tune made somber and reflective on this album.

Coming Forth by Day, by Cassandra Wilson
Intended as a musical homage to Billie Holiday, who would have been 100 this year, this is covers an album’s worth of Lady Day’s songs. It’s an ambitious undertaking; Billie Holiday’s talent, musical legacy, and tragic persona cast a long shadow, even for singers of Wilson’s caliber. Luckily, Wilson doesn’t try to recreate Billie Holiday as much as celebrate her. While Holiday is an obvious influence on Wilson’s voice, her approach to these songs (especially “Strange Fruit”) is sunnier and warmer than the originals, an approach that is supported by Nick Launay’s production.

Lady In Satin, by Billie Holiday
If you want to get this album on vinyl for Mother’s Day, you’re in luck—Barnes & Noble is carrying it exclusively for the first few months of its release. Lady In Satin might be the most interesting album ever created by this storied artist. Released the year before her death, this collection sees Holiday take on songs she’d never recorded before (including Frank Sinatra’s “I’m A Fool to Want You”), backed by orchestral arrangements that were a departure from her earlier recordings. What makes this album great, of course, is Holiday’s voice. Even though hard living had worn down her upper vocal register by this point, she remained one of the most emotionally resonant singers in jazz, and her performances here are wrenching.

Dreamland, by Madeline Peyroux
Released by Atlantic Records in 1996, Dreamland was Madeline Peyroux’s first album. It sold 200,000 copies without any recognized hits or radio promotion, which says a lot about how gifted this artist is. Dreamland mixes three original songs with a selection of covers, including Edith Piaf’s “La Vie En Rose” and Bessie Smith’s “Reckless Blues.” Peyroux’s vocals shine throughout, but they really soar on “La Vie,” where she captures the song’s emotional weight without sounding like a carbon copy of its original singer.

Pure Ella: The Very Best of Ella Fitzgerald, by Ella Fitzgerald
Putting together a retrospective of Ella Fitzgerald’s incredible career can’t be easy, given its duration and breadth, and narrowing it down to 18 tracks must be harder still. Pure Ella does an impressive job of summarizing Ella at her best, featuring a selection of her most popular hits (“How High The Moon,” “Take the A Train,” “All The Things You Are”) and a handful of her collaborations with the likes of Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, and even Patti Smith. Along with all the great songs, what you get from Pure Ella is a sense of Fitzgerald’s versatility, and the impact she had on both jazz and American pop music.
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