Best female vocals on CD

This is a pretty good thread. There are so many great singers out there, each with a different style and genre of music. I think some of the standouts would be Holly Cole (Which - to "Inscrutable" - does have a CD out titled "Don't smoke in Bed" -AWESOME); Mary Travers; Whitney Houston (sober version); Sarah McLachlan; Karen Carpenter; Enya; Patsy Cline (sp?) AND (I'm gonna catch hell for this one) Madonna. Say what you will about this last pick but she's got a great voice.

I agree with Rayhall. I find it painful to listen to Krall's "interpretations" of standards. Just listen to Billie Holiday sing All or Nothing At All- and then listen to Krall's version on Love Scenes - it makes me want to gag. Her cds ARE well recorded though. Billie Holiday gets under your skin, drills through your veins and changes your chemical composition forever - if one accomplished little else in life other than listen to her sing, it would still be a life well spent. Nina Simone is another jazz singer that ranks up there on the celestial scale. I love Ella - I just wish the instrumentation on a lot of her work were less syrupy. Cassandra Wilson's voice is amazing, but does anyone ever get through her albums in their entirety? Holly Cole's performance of Jersey Girl - YES! Margo Timmins is phenomenal - the most EXPRESSIVE singer in rock,IMHO. Joan Osborne (whatever happened to her?) sounded incredibly versatile and exciting in Relish.

Try Carla Lother on the Chesky label. Beautiful alto/soprano voice with nice musical arrangements.

For Jazz fans: Check out Dee Dee Bridgewater. The CD is "Live at Yoshi's". This is an absolutely stunning CD both musically and artistically. She shows off her entire vocal repertoire from soft delicate ballads to belting out raw, powerful songs to scat singing. She is backed by talented, but not well-kown musicians. The dynamics on this CD are beyond anything I have ever heard on a commercial recording. Listen to the tambourine in the opening on track 2 "Slow Boat to China".

The late Sandy Denny deserves a place in this survey, check her out with Fairport Convention as well as her solo recordings.