There's some listening samples at the link below
but they are pretty short.

Along with Dianne Hubka and few others there seems to
be several new female vocalists with substantial talent
and style.

• Pamela Luss

I'd have to say in response that when the newer vocalists try
to ape the classic performers in scat singing etc, it usually
come out pretty lame.

And I think it is due to inexperience as you do. But I also
think that the market for vocalists is greatly different that
in the hey day of the big bands.

Many of the tunes on this album I avoid like the plague
such as "My Funny Valentine."

But when a really good arrangement comes along like the
new(er) one of a chestnut--- but a sort of secret chestnut---
like Cole Porter's "Miss Otis Regrets" done up in a jazz
waltz tempo by someone whom I would call effortless then
it gives new life to the music. I'll look up the "Miss Otis
Regrets" vocalist if you want-- sounds like Marlena Shaw but isn't
her.

As to repertoire, I think that jazz vocalists are guardians
of the style in the same way that barbershop quartets are
guardians of the style. The HiLos under Gene Purling made it big
by using a variation on barbershop by putting the tenor on
the melody line and using orchestrations rather than accappella.
The Hilos are not barbershop even in that Forever Plaid period
of the early 60's.

I love voice and spoken word of all kinds.

Pamela Luss just seems to be better than some of the
other lounge singers which I hear over the air. I don't
know how they do it.

I'm not in radio anymore even as volunteer community
radio. But I've always wanted to play "That's Show Biz"
by The Reverend Horton Heat (Martini Time album) for a radio
audience. Find it if you can, broadcast it if you are able.
If I were doing a prog today, I'd probably use that as a closer.

Last time we did regular sign-off for a number of months
we used "My Way." Not the Sinatra "My Way", the Sid Vicious
"My Way." I can still hear my partner reading the station
sign off with Sid in the background and then going into the
National Anthem.

I am a big spoken word fan also; I think we spoke about Ken Nordine previously and I listen to William Burroughs with Material backing him. So do you have any recomendations along those lines?

I think the new crop of females just need to find their own voice and choice of material that defines their abilities; they have decent chops, but they try too hard.

The lyrics to these ersatz jazz tunes are more like scripts than
anything that one would hum along to.

Glad you appreciate Ken Nordine. I have most of the original
vinyl and the stuff from Ken is still available. He even sent
me an email once.

Many spoken word things are available on file share. The ones to
look for are by the likes of Richard Buckley (60's comedian who
was a contemporary of Lenny Bruce) Brother Theodore Gottlieb who used
to be a regular on the Tonight Show and has done such off camera rolls as Gollum in the Ralph Bakshi Lord Of The Rings.

Many poets read their work like Gil Scott Heron and Ishmael Reed,
but I never got into the coffee house scene, Starbucks or anywhere else. Part of my role as cab driver was to educate the
public on these subjects. As I'm thinking about this now one
of my favorite spoken word pieces is "A Foreign Affair" written
by Tom Waits and performed by Manhattan Transfer.

Historically, radio drama was one of the best sources of
spoken word as anyone who has Well's War Of The Worlds
can attest. But the poet of radio was Norman Corwin.
Corwin's work is available in cd reproductions and is heard
here in Wisconsin on a special weekly program devoted to
Old Time Radio.

I have heard some rap that I thought was captivating. I just never get the chance to locate those recordings and I don't have the patience to wade through all the muck to find them.
If you know of any rap artists that are of substance let me know. I should be more educated along the lines of NWA or Africa Bombatta; stuff like that the good rap that tells stories of the streets in a poetical fashion.

Not long ago I was surprised to learn that the Last Poets "When The
Revolution Comes" and "This Is Madness" were available on cd.

I requested that my local library make this part of acquisitions
which they did. Now new artists can hear the source material for
much of what rap has become.

I would start with the Last Poets.

Link is below.

Also if you keep an eye on www.half.com, some titles may
show up in there.

Lesson 2 will be The Care And Feeding Of The Signifying Monkey.

• Last Poets