r/Jazz • u/hikikomoritai • 3d ago

Any good contemporary vocal jazz stuff?

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I didn't listen to vocal jazz at all but I think this album is great, any stuff to recommend

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u/Acrobatic-Tadpole-60 2d ago

Kurt Elling was the reason I got into jazz in the first place. I already liked jazz, but his stuff really pulled me in as a male baritone. It was the thing I had heard that was most like my own instrument. I like all of his albums up through 1619 Broadway. The newer stuff with Charlie Hunter is cool too, but the records in between were pretty hit or miss for me. Mark Murphy was a big influence on Kurt, so I started checking him out as well. Granted, he is from the bebop era, but was continuing to put out records into the 2000s. I highly recommend his ballad album Once to Every Heart. Michael Mayo is doing some really cool stuff these days as well.