Best female singer
 

dont care if they look hot or like crap, or what genere. Recommend me some good ones.

Bjork.

Look no further.

That is all. Carry on then!

-matt

Stevie Nicks is my all time favorite female singer.

Bjork and Shirley Manson!

Sorry, I just never got Bjork. I like the weird, depressing, sensual vibes of the trip-hop chanteuse, but Bjork just pushed too far into the creepy for me. Although, I haven't given her stuff an intensive listen, so I might eventually come back to her.

My picks:

Beth Gibbons of Portishead
Tracey Thorn of Everything but the Girl
Siobahn de Mare of Mono and Violet Indiana
Elisabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins
Dot Allison
Beth Orton

Some non trip-hop ones:

Aimee Mann
Andea Corr of The Corrs
Madonna (Yeah, I think she's pretty good. What's it to you?)
Michelle Branch and Vanessa Carlton (By now, I have probably lost all credibility. But even though they're new, their music almost a bit to poppish for my tastes, I think they have exceptional talent.)

Sarah McLachlan
Andrea Corr
Allison Krauss
Diana Krall

kristen hersh (throwing muses, solo)
pj harvey
kim deal (the breeders, the amps, pixies)
sinead o'connor

Ann Wilson of Heart
Aimee Mann
Tina Arena

:up:

Alanis Morissette!!

a couple more ...

Terri Nunn of Berlin
Trisha Yearwood

Try Norah Jones. She's all the rage here lately in the jazz world. Great voice, too.

nikka costa

julie cruise

Madonna and Shakira

Although my favorite female performers are Toni Halliday of Curve, Aimee Mann and Liz Phair. Hands down, the most powerful voice in music ever (IMO) has got to be Alison Moyet. What a set of pipes.

Can somebody explain to me how in the h-e-double-hockey sticks did this thread go 15 replies without someone saying the obvious answer... Tori Amos???

I dont know why but the high voices on shakira sound a little forced. Madonna is consitered an entertainer and not a really good singer.

Emmylou Harris
Kasey Chambers
Allison Krauss
Lucinda Williams
Be Good Tanyas

My bad. I agree she is up there. AWESOME songwriter, brilliant piano player, and great voice.

Agreed. I just started to listen to her and the album is a really unique mix of jazz and pop with some pseudo-folk and country thrown in. I'm glad the jazz community is embracing it but, other than the small jazz combo that is her band, there's quite a few on there that I think go beyond the traditional definition of jazz.

As far as "Best Female Singer", I'm not even going to get into a list as "Best" is extremely subjective. That being said, some of the ones I keep coming back to:

Martina Sorbara (just released her first album on Nettwerk in Canada and will see a US release in late-Summer, one of the finest debut albums I've heard in a very long time)
Andrea Florian (extremely talented and genuinely nice person who is an independent artist out of Toronto)
Ani DeFranco
Diana Krall

My choices:

Janis Joplin
Joni Mitchell
Beth Gibbons
Faye Wong
Tori Amos
Elizabeth Frazier

Another vote for Kasey Chambers!

Hope Sandoval - favorite

Tori Amos - lots of love

Another vote for Aimee Mann. :)