Women of Jazz

Verve Records releases the latest editions in its breakout Great Women of Song series, which pays homage to the ground-breaking work and lasting impact of some of the greatest female vocalists of all time. Like her idol Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae could own a ballad and make it all her own. She could also swing every bit as hard as her other main influence, Ella Fitzgerald. Coming up during the bebop era and under the musical sway of Thelonious Monk, Carmen made a series of recordings for the Decca label that would cement her reputation and launch a career that close to 50 years. Whether in small groups or backed by a studio orchestra, Carmen McRae recorded definitive versions of songs that make up the backbones of jazz and the Great American Songbook.

As Duke Ellington would have said, Dinah Washington was “beyond category”. Subtle and inventive enough to hold an honored place in the jazz pantheon yet tough and forceful enough to command the attention of blues, R&B and rock & roll audiences. Equally at ease performing Broadway songs, pop tunes or jazz material, Washington combined urbane finesse with down-home grit to make music that reflected her strong-willed, larger-than-life personality.

BBC - Queens of Jazz: The Joy and Pain of The Jazz Divas (2013)
PDTV | 832x468 | .MKV/AVC @ 1458 Kbps | 59mn 35s | Audio: English AAC 128 kbps, 2 channels | Subs: None | 621 MiB
Genre: Documentary

Queens of Jazz is a celebration of some of the greatest female jazz singers of the 20th century. It takes an unflinching and revealing look at what it actually took to be a jazz diva during a turbulent time in America's social history - a time when battle lines were being constantly drawn around issues of race, gender and popular culture. This is a documentary about how these women triumphed - always at some personal cost - to become some of the greatest artists of the 20th century; women who chose singing above life itself because singing was their life.

From rip roaring folk renditions by Eugenia Georgieva and Çiğdem Aslan to atmospheric and heartfelt gems from African divas Sally Nyolo and Lala Njava, this handpicked selection of tracks takes you on a journey from Calcutta to Cameroon and beyond.

After making her professional debut as the cool, breathy voice behind the historic 1964 crossover smash “The Girl from Ipanema”, Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto became a major force in popularizing the bossa nova sound. Her understated yet magnetic delivery is spotlighted on this collection, showcasing her instantly-recognizable approach to songs drawn from a variety of sources—Brazil, pop hits and standards.

Peggy Lee had a wide-ranging and diverse career as a singer, songwriter and actress. Tony Bennett called her "the female Frank Sinatra," and Frank Sinatra said that she "should be studied by all vocalists." The focus of this collection is the jazz-oriented recordings Lee made for Decca Records from 1952-56 and includes several tracks from her stellar album, Black Coffee.