50 Great Jazz Vocals is a crowdsourced list of the 50 most popular jazz vocal recordings of all time, as determined by the listeners of NPR Music, Jazz24.org and KPLU in Seattle. We asked jazz lovers all over the world to vote for their favorites. When the results were in, the thousands of votes were tabulated, and this list is the result. You can take a look at the list below or, better yet, dive into the webstream, kick back and listen to all 50 Great Jazz Vocals. According to our listeners, it doesn’t get any better than this.
I had the opportunity to speak with KPLU’s Kirsten Kendrick about this list. You can listen to our discussion here.
Here are the winners:
50 Great Jazz Vocals: The List
1. Billie Holiday, “Strange Fruit”
2. Johnny Hartman & John Coltrane, “Lush Life”
3. Billie Holiday, “God Bless the Child”
4. Ella Fitzgerald, “How High the Moon”
5. Ella Fitzgerald, “Mack the Knife”
6. Etta James, “At Last”
7. Louis Armstrong, “What a Wonderful World”
8. Chet Baker, “My Funny Valentine”
9. Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto, “Girl From Ipanema”
10. Peggy Lee, “Fever”
11. Sarah Vaughan, “Lullaby of Birdland”
12. Ella Fitzgerald, “Summertime”
13. The Manhattan Transfer, “Birdland”
14. Johnny Hartman & John Coltrane, “My One and Only Love”
15. Nina Simone, “I Loves You, Porgy”
16. Ella Fitzgerald, “A-Tisket, A-Tasket”
17. Joe Williams with Count Basie & His Orchestra, “Everyday I Have the Blues”
18. Billie Holiday, “Autumn in New York”
19. Sarah Vaughan, “Misty”
20. Ella Fitzgerald, “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”
21. Nina Simone, “Feeling Good”
22. Billie Holiday, “Fine and Mellow”
23. Nina Simone, “My Baby Just Cares for Me”
24. Nat King Cole, “Route 66”
25. Frank Sinatra, “One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)”
26. Ella Fitzgerald, “Blue Skies”
27. June Christy, “Something Cool”
28. Ray Charles, “Georgia on My Mind”
29. Frank Sinatra, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”
30. Anita O’Day, “Sweet Georgia Brown”
31. Billie Holiday, “All of Me”
32. Louis Armstrong, “Black and Blue”
33. Susannah McCorkle, “The Waters of March”
34. Frank Sinatra, “Fly Me to the Moon”
35. Billie Holiday, “Good Morning Heartache”
36. Louis Armstrong & Oscar Peterson, “You Go to My Head”
37. Clark Terry, “Mumbles”
38. Billie Holiday, “My Man”
39. Diana Krall, “Peel Me a Grape”
40. Nat King Cole, “Unforgettable”
41. Nat King Cole, “Stardust”
42. Chet Baker, “Let’s Get Lost”
43. Billie Holiday, “Lover Man”
44. Ella Fitzgerald, “Someone to Watch Over Me”
45. Eva Cassidy, “Autumn Leaves”
46. Johnny Hartman & John Coltrane, “They Say It’s Wonderful”
47. Les McCann & Eddie Harris, “Compared To What”
48. Julie London, “Cry Me a River”
49. Cab Calloway, “Minnie the Moocher”
50. Nat King Cole, “Nature Boy”
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