contemporary jazz/funk/rnb vocalists to keep an eye on

if several of well-established vocalists have already been in your playlist for a long time (be it Chaka Khan, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Cassandra Wilson, or older ones ranging from Ella to Aretha)
you might want to take a look at slightly less popular ones that I am going to mention, and perhaps explore someone new:
(more or less chronological)

1 Chet Baker: His cool-jazz pioneer trumpet is famous enough, tragic accounts of his life are also well known. Yet the tragedy is always lacking because you cannot hear Orpheus sing. Well this recording might be the closest you can get.
That Old Feeling
When I think of the obscure line we draw when listening to music btw. sensitivity and sentimentality (yes, drawn by a normative hand), I increasingly think of this album and wonder how Chet managed to hang on to the former without an ounce of mawkishness. As if he is singing against the wind of prospective officious biographers attempting to reduce his life experience to a hackneyed melodrama.
Anyway, i was content to keep this music blog strictly business , and free from trite personal observations characterizing blogs. Go hear him when you have time.



2) KJ Denhert: Strangely less-traveled composer/singer/guitarist.
An ingenious mixture of funk, jazz, folk and soul. Sung by a distinctive and authentic brass-like contralto voice. No wonder she mentions Joni Mitchell, Prince, Stevie and Billie Holiday among influences. You can hear those names in her music (and Sting at his funkiest!) yet the whole is overgestaltly more than the components.
I also like the fact that side musicians are given excessive freedom to contribute.
Her bona fide covers of well-known songs are also impressive. Here is a taste: Hit the Road Jack
You might want to hear more through her myspace page or download recent gemalbums Lucky 7 and Another Year Gone By quite affordably through her page.

3) Rachelle Ferrell : An ingenious singer, excelling at R&B and jazz. Her last album Live at Montreux 91-97 [Live] published in 2002, is an ideal route to explore her unmistakable vocals.
See the video below for a tinge of Rachelle.

4)Jill Scott: Another must if you are interested in singers experimenting in R&B and jazz with equal earnestness.
She collaborated with legendary The Roots for You Got Me.
Another collaboration was with great George Benson for the Benson & Jarreau album, for a rendition of the standard "God Bless the Child" this time.
In an interview I remember Benson mentioning her as "amazingly couregous, ready to try anything with her voice".
Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2 is the gem that secured her well-earned popularity and might be a good entry point.
Summertime duet with Benson (on Youtube)

HEAR THIS!!: MY favourite Jill Scott piece, an amazing mixture of R&B n jazz.
(Notice the lyrics, managing to be both romantic and quite witty, a Jill Scott specialty)

5)Patti Austin:
Mentioned last but far from the least, grammy-winning R&B and jazz guru never ceases to impress.
Last two albums of her, compilations to two founding figures of jazz, For Ella (2002) and Avant-Gershwin (2007) are mighty candidates for doing justice to her abilities in an hour.Yet I would prefer Avant-Gershwin for its subtly more innovative approach.


Hear Rachelle Ferrell and Patti Austin improvising and having fun together (with great George Duke on piano) ,dig for more if you (don't) like it: