TubeNet

Pavarotti, Fischer-Dieskau, Wunderlich, Rolfe-Johnson, Bocelli, and a few others I'm forgetting. Their musicality is simply astounding.

Linda Eder- Man of La Mancha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ynrky_iw6Q" target="_blank

Susan Grahm- A Chloris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih6UCcIvE18" target="_blank

Bruno Laplante- Quand je fus pris au pavillon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OId_WlgiiQg" target="_blank

Legacy Five- I Found Grace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9sF0dj0jVc" target="_blank

This performance in particular GREATLY influenced my most recent audition, and has been a large influence on my general musical ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hxonfpfuTY" target="_blank" target="_blank

Alto, back row, 5th from the left.

Rex Martin asked me in a lesson what my favorite Frank Sinatra song was. He wanted to bring to my attention how effectively a phrase could be shaped and stretched.

And just to remind, what is it we are listening FOR in a singer, that we will want to emulate? I think it's worth mentioning. I'll start with an objective I often wish I heard more of from some instrumentalists (and singers, too) - shaping the phrase as the musical context suggests. It's usually better to hear Dylan Thomas' poetry read by, oh, say, Dylan Thomas, than by a Speak & Spell. There is more to this than getting the letters - or the notes.

Sinatra is a damned good emulation, frankly speaking. Guy never learned to read music, but that sure doesn't mean he wasn't musical.

Joe Williams - an exquisite musician with an incredible instrument.

bloke wrote: I believe "reading music" can very easily be a hindrance to musical phrasing.

This is why memorization (mostly ignored today by most all but touring artists) of written solo and small ensemble music is so beneficial. Once "memorized", the *music* can then be *learned* and actually *performed*.

I have come to think that the mental process for a singer to memorize is not the same as the typical younger brass player.

Now in my 60s, I struggle to "memorize" anything. But I have discovered that i can learn a tune and then play it by ear. It seems like it ought to be the same, or close to the same, but it feels very different, and is much more secure; it is as if it skips the sheet music step.

hrender wrote:what singers (if any) have influenced your sense of music]

Paul Stanley from KISS
His book Face The Music is a great read and quite inspirational as well!

Nat King Cole singing... anything.

Two more to check out if you don't know them.

Eva Cassidy - she only lived to 30, I used to work with her. Listen to Over the Rainbow, Autumn Leaves, or anything she ever recorded.

Emma Pask - Australian jazz singer - listen to her youtube video of L-O-V-E, and lots more.

Bing Crosby, and Danny Elfman(Jack in Nightmare before Christmas) Ed

Carmen McRae, especially performing Thelonious Monk. Nothing like it.

Hup

When my teacher was trying to teach me vibrato he cited Frank Sinatra as an example of it being well-done.

As far as Sinatra not begin able to read music at all... there seems to be a certain body of evidence of him in studios studying and performing from pages that were more than just lyrics.

Perhaps not a flawless sight-reader in the sense that instrumentalists are expected to be, but how many vocalists are?

Bill Bell (and His Tuba)
Jack Robinson
Thurl Ravenscroft (Tony the Tiger, "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch")

I also second Joe Williams

Kurt Elling

There are TONS of great recordings of him available.

Has anyone here heard this wonderful Bass singer? I heard him sing Fafner and Hagen at the Met last year.
He had one of the most resonant voices I've ever heard. I don't think the recordings capture the reality, but they are still quite phenomenal.

Hans-Peter Konig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAhAR1neGm0" target="_blank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzeShzbcaQw" target="_blank

Warning, great tuba playing here, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOak2npcxPw" target="_blank
Bravo, Mr. Hall!

Louis Armstrong
Joy Williams (half of The Civil Wars)
Joe Williams
Nat King Cole
Kate Bush
Tom Waits
Bryan Ferry
Bing Crosby
Willie Nelson
Lowell George
Mick Jagger
Peggy Lee
Patsy Cline
Thom Yorke