Showing 81–136 of 136 results
Leny Andrade was a Brazilian singer and musician, born January 25, 1943, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She died in 2023. Her music blended Brazilian jazz, bossa nova, samba, Latin jazz, and MPB. Deezer describes her as a Latin and Brazilian jazz vocalist who studied piano at the Brazilian Conservatory of Music and began singing…
Leonard Cohen was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, and novelist, born in 1934 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He died in 2016. His music is usually associated with folk, folk rock, singer-songwriter, soft rock, and literary pop, with lyrics often exploring love, spirituality, desire, loss, politics, mortality, and redemption. Britannica describes him as a Canadian singer-songwriter whose…
Livingston Taylor is an American singer-songwriter, folk musician, performer, and teacher, born in 1950 in Boston, Massachusetts. His music blends folk, pop, gospel, soft rock, and jazz-influenced singer-songwriter styles. He is the younger brother of James Taylor, and has had a long solo career while also teaching at Berklee College of Music. Important albums include…
Lizz Wright is an American singer and songwriter, born in 1980 in Hahira, Georgia. Her music combines jazz, gospel, soul, blues, folk, and R&B, shaped by her church background in rural Georgia. Apple Music describes her as a singer with a full contralto voice who came up in church before making her commercial breakthrough with…
Loreena McKennitt is a Canadian singer, composer, harpist, pianist, accordionist, and multi-instrumentalist, born in 1957 in Morden, Manitoba, Canada. Her music blends Celtic, world music, folk, new age, and Middle Eastern influences, often built around her clear soprano voice and atmospheric arrangements. Important albums include Elemental, The Visit, The Mask and Mirror, The Book of…
Lyn Stanley is especially loved by audiophiles because she deliberately records and releases music in high-quality physical formats, including vinyl records, SACDs, and reel-to-reel tapes. Her official website emphasizes these formats and describes her recordings as carefully made for high-quality listening. It also names major engineers associated with her recordings, including Al Schmitt, Bernie Grundman,…
Macy Gray, born Natalie Renée McIntyre in 1967, is an American R&B, soul, neo-soul, pop, and jazz-influenced singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actress. She is especially known for her unmistakable raspy voice and soulful, slightly unconventional vocal style. Apple Music describes her as known for her “raspy voice and unusual style,” and notes that she…
Mariza, born Marisa dos Reis Nunes in 1973, is a Portuguese fado singer, also associated with world music and contemporary Portuguese music. She was born in Lourenço Marques, Portuguese Mozambique, and grew up in Lisbon, where she became closely connected with the fado tradition. She became internationally known with her debut album Fado em Mim…
Mark Knopfler, born 1949, is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, singer, and songwriter of Dire Straits, and later as a successful solo artist and film-score composer. Britannica describes him as the front man of Dire Straits and notes his celebrated fingerstyle guitar…
Marta Gómez, born 1978, is a Colombian singer-songwriter, composer, and guitarist from Cali, Colombia. Her music blends Latin American folk, Latin jazz, world music, pop, and traditional South American rhythms. Her official website describes her as one of the outstanding voices of the international independent music scene, with songs that often carry a strong social…
Mary Black, born 1955, is an Irish folk, Celtic, and contemporary singer from Dublin, Ireland. She is known for interpreting both traditional Irish songs and modern material, and Qobuz describes her as being equally at home with Irish folk and contemporary styles including blues, rock, jazz, country, and soul. She first came to public attention…
McCoy Tyner, born Alfred McCoy Tyner in 1938, was an American jazz pianist and composer from Philadelphia. He is best known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1965 and for his long solo career as one of the most influential pianists in modern jazz. Apple Music describes him as one…
Meiko, born Melissa McAllister Sheppard in 1982, is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Roberta, Georgia. Her music is usually described as indie pop, indie folk, adult alternative, and acoustic singer-songwriter music. She later became associated with the Los Angeles Hotel Café singer-songwriter scene and is now based in Europe. She released her self-titled debut…
Melody Gardot, born 1985, is an American jazz vocalist, singer-songwriter, and musician from New Jersey. Apple Music lists her genre as Jazz and gives her birth date as February 2, 1985. Her music blends vocal jazz, blues, folk, bossa nova, Latin, Brazilian influences, and sophisticated pop. She first gained attention after writing and recording music…
Michael Franks, born 1944, is an American singer-songwriter known for a smooth blend of jazz, pop, soft rock, bossa nova, and sophisticated vocal jazz. His official website lists a full discography beginning with Brut in 1973, while major streaming pages highlight his classic 1970s and 1980s recordings. His most important albums include The Art of…
Mike Silver, born 1945, is a British singer-songwriter and folk musician from Uffington, Berkshire/Oxfordshire, England. Apple Music describes him as a singer-songwriter influenced by 1950s pop, blues, British beat music, and fingerstyle folk guitar, and lists his genre as Singer/Songwriter. His music is mainly folk, acoustic singer-songwriter, folk-rock, and roots-influenced songwriting. Important albums include Heaven…
Miles Davis, born Miles Dewey Davis III in 1926, was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. His official website describes him as one of the most innovative, influential, and acclaimed figures in music history. His music covered and helped shape many jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, jazz fusion, and…
Monty Alexander, born Montgomery Bernard Alexander in 1944, is a Jamaican-American jazz pianist from Kingston, Jamaica. His music blends straight-ahead jazz, bebop, blues, reggae, Caribbean rhythms, and swing. Apple Music describes him as a Jamaica-born pianist with a sophisticated swinging style influenced by both the bop tradition and the reggae and Caribbean folk music he…
Nicki Parrott is loved by audiophiles because her recordings combine warm vocal jazz, acoustic double bass, small-combo swing, and carefully recorded standards. Her music is ideal for hi-fi systems because it reveals vocal texture, bass resonance, cymbal detail, stereo placement, and natural room ambience. Qobuz lists several of her albums in high-quality and hi-res formats,…
Nils Lofgren, born 1951, is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is known as a solo artist, as founder/frontman of the band Grin, and as a longtime member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band; his official website also notes his work with Neil Young, Crazy Horse, and Ringo Starr. His music is…
Nils Petter Molvær, born 1960, is a Norwegian jazz trumpeter, composer, producer, and improviser. His music blends jazz, electronic music, ambient, trip-hop, drum’n’bass, and future jazz. His official biography says he was born in Sula in 1960 and first became known through Masqualero, before his solo breakthrough. His most important albums include Khmer, Solid Ether,…
Norah Jones is an American singer, pianist, and songwriter known for her warm, smoky voice and a relaxed blend of jazz, pop, soul, country, and singer-songwriter styles. She became internationally famous with her 2002 debut album Come Away With Me, especially the songs “Don’t Know Why,” “Come Away With Me,” “Turn Me On,” and “The…
Olivia Ong is a Singaporean singer and actress, born on 2 October 1985. She is best known for her soft, intimate vocal style and her blend of bossa nova, vocal jazz, easy listening, acoustic pop, and Mandopop. She first gained attention in Japan, including work with the J-pop group Mirai, before building a solo career…
Paquito D’Rivera is a Cuban-American saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for Latin jazz, but his career also crosses into classical music, Afro-Cuban music, bebop, chamber music, and world music. The National Endowment for the Arts describes him as a saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, and composer, and notes that he was named…
Patricia Barber is an American jazz singer, pianist, songwriter, and composer from Chicago. Her music is usually described as jazz, but it also includes elements of blues, art song, cabaret, and modern singer-songwriter music. Streaming and label biographies describe her as an award-winning jazz pianist, singer, and songwriter with a distinctive voice and style. Her…
Paul O’Brien is an English/Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist associated mainly with folk, Celtic folk, and acoustic singer-songwriter music. He was born in Birmingham, England, to Irish parents and later lived in Canada; several biographies describe him as a storyteller with deep Irish roots and a broad folk style. His important albums include Sacred Lines, Plastic,…
Peter Finger is a German acoustic fingerstyle guitarist, composer, songwriter, record producer, and publisher. His music is mainly connected with acoustic guitar, fingerstyle, folk, blues, new age, and instrumental guitar music. Apple Music lists him under instrumental music and notes that he was born in Germany on 11 October 1954. His important albums include Open…
Peter Gabriel is an English singer, songwriter, musician, producer, and activist. He first became famous as the original lead singer of Genesis, then left the band and built a major solo career from the late 1970s onward. His music combines art rock, progressive rock, pop, electronic music, worldbeat, and experimental rock. Qobuz describes his solo…
Peter Ratzenbeck is an Austrian acoustic guitarist, composer, and music teacher, best known for fingerstyle guitar, folk, acoustic instrumental music, and Celtic-influenced guitar pieces. Apple Music lists him as an Austrian artist born on 10 October 1955, and TheAudioDB describes him as an Austrian guitarist, composer, and music teacher from Graz. His important albums include…
Phil Woods was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, and bandleader, best known for bebop, hard bop, post-bop, and mainstream jazz. He was strongly influenced by Charlie Parker but developed his own recognizable sound and became one of the major alto saxophonists in modern jazz. Apple Music describes him as one of the most…
Phoebe Bridgers is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer from Pasadena, California. Her music is usually described as indie folk, indie rock, and indie pop, often built around intimate vocals, acoustic guitar, atmospheric production, and melancholic, sharply written lyrics. Apple Music describes her as a Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter making hushed, haunting indie folk and…
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in the 1960s. They are best known for progressive rock, psychedelic rock, art rock, and concept albums with long-form compositions, philosophical lyrics, studio experimentation, and elaborate live shows. YouTube’s artist description notes that the group formed when Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright were…
Priya Darshini is an Indian-American singer, composer, musician, actor, and educator based in New York. Her music blends Indian classical music, world music, new age, folk, and cross-cultural acoustic influences. Her official website describes her as a Grammy-nominated musician who blends Indian classical music with global influences. Her most important album is Periphery, released by…
Rachelle Ferrell is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, and arranger, best known for jazz, contemporary jazz, R&B, soul, and gospel-influenced vocal music. She was born and raised in the Philadelphia area, studied at Berklee College of Music, and worked with major artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, George Benson, and George Duke. Her important…
Rebecca Pidgeon is an American-British singer-songwriter, guitarist, actress, and recording artist. She was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, raised mainly in Edinburgh, Scotland, and first became known in music as the lead singer of the folk-pop band Ruby Blue before starting her solo career in the United States. Her music is usually connected with folk-pop, singer-songwriter,…
Ron Carter is an American jazz double bassist, cellist, composer, bandleader, and educator. He is best known for jazz, especially post-bop, hard bop, modal jazz, mainstream jazz, and acoustic small-group jazz. Tidal and Qobuz describe him as a world-class bassist and jazz icon, famous for his melodic and rhythmic approach and for his role in…
Sara K., born Sara Katherine Wooldridge, is an American singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist. Her music blends folk, blues, jazz, acoustic singer-songwriter music, and audiophile-oriented acoustic production. Apple Music describes her as a singer-songwriter who pursued music from a young age, while her biography notes her distinctive guitar approach and long career across labels including Chesky…
Shelby Lynne is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist whose music crosses country, Americana, soul, blues, jazz, pop rock, and roots music. Monument Records describes her as an artist with a discography of 18 albums and a Grammy win for Best New Artist for I Am Shelby Lynne, noting that she has crossed the boundaries of…
The Spirit of Gambo is a Dutch early-music / classical ensemble specializing in viola da gamba consort music. Their repertoire focuses strongly on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music, including composers such as Dowland, Purcell, Bach, John Jenkins, Christopher Tye, and Orlando Gibbons. Their official website describes the ensemble’s character as combining energetic playing, drive, and musical…
Stacey Kent is an American jazz singer known for a refined, intimate vocal style and an elegant repertoire that includes vocal jazz, standards, bossa nova, chanson française, and contemporary songbook material. YouTube Music identifies her as an American jazz singer from South Orange, New Jersey, and notes that she has been Grammy-nominated and awarded the…
Steely Dan is an American rock band formed in 1971 by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Their music blends jazz rock, soft rock, pop, R&B, funk, blues, and sophisticated studio rock, with complex harmonies, polished production, and literate, often ironic lyrics. Apple Music describes their sound as a refined mix of jazz, traditional pop, blues,…
Steve Strauss is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist associated mainly with folk, singer-songwriter, blues, roots music, and audiophile acoustic recordings. Stockfisch Records describes him as a native of New York who grew up listening to many genres, including folk, jazz, bluegrass, and blues, all of which are reflected in his songwriting and performance style. His…
Steven Wilson is an English musician, singer, songwriter, producer, audio engineer, guitarist, and keyboardist. He is best known as the founder and frontman of Porcupine Tree, while also maintaining a major solo career. His music is mainly associated with progressive rock, art rock, post-progressive, psychedelic rock, electronic music, and experimental pop/rock. Spotify describes him as…
Sting, born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, is an English singer, songwriter, bassist, and actor. He first became famous as the lead singer, bassist, and principal songwriter of The Police, then built a major solo career from the mid-1980s onward. His music blends rock, pop, new wave, jazz, reggae, classical, world music, and adult contemporary influences….
The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock and studio-based music project formed by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson in the mid-1970s. Their music combines progressive rock, art rock, soft rock, symphonic rock, pop rock, and studio experimentation, often built around concept-album themes. The official site states that the project released 10 concept albums…
The Greater Good is an acclaimed acoustic folk/Americana trio formed by three established singer-songwriters: Eugene Ruffolo, Dennis Kolen, and Shane Alexander. The group is primarily known for their sophisticated vocal harmonies, intricate guitar work, and the exceptional “audiophile” production quality of their recordings. Genre: Folk, Americana, Acoustic Rock. Key Album: Their self-titled debut, The Greater…
The Paperboys are a Canadian folk-rock band formed in 1992 in Vancouver, led by Mexican-born musician Tom Landa. The band is celebrated for its eclectic and joyful “multi-culti” sound, which seamlessly blends Celtic reel and jigs with Mexican Son Jarocho, bluegrass, ska, and pop. Genre: Folk-Rock, Celtic Rock, Americana, and Worldbeat. Important Albums/Songs: Their discography…
Tierney Sutton is loved by audiophiles because her recordings place great emphasis on vocal purity, acoustic jazz balance, space, phrasing, and dynamic subtlety. Her voice is clear, controlled, and intimate, making her albums excellent for testing midrange realism, vocal focus, piano tone, bass texture, cymbal detail, and the natural placement of musicians in a recording….
Tord Gustavsen is a Norwegian jazz pianist and composer from Oslo, born on October 5, 1970. His music blends modern jazz with Nordic lyricism, Scandinavian folk influences, gospel, Protestant hymn traditions, and spacious ECM-style chamber jazz. Apple Music lists his genre as Jazz and describes his approach as understated, roomy, and atmospheric. He became internationally…
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, born in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 30, 1964. Her music is usually described as folk, folk rock, pop rock, and singer-songwriter, with strong social and political themes. She became internationally known with her 1988 debut album Tracy Chapman, especially through the songs “Fast Car,” “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution,” and…
Van Morrison is loved by audiophiles because his best recordings combine a very natural vocal presence with real acoustic instruments, spacious arrangements, and strong dynamic feel. Albums such as Astral Weeks, Moondance, Tupelo Honey, Veedon Fleece, and Into the Music are excellent for listening to voice texture, saxophone, piano, acoustic guitar, upright bass, drums, and…
Vanessa Fernandez is loved by audiophiles mainly because of her Groove Note Records releases, especially Use Me, When the Levee Breaks, and I Want You. Her official biography says she released three audiophile albums with Groove Note, and Qobuz lists key albums including Use Me, I Want You, and When the Levee Breaks under her…
Werner Lämmerhirt was a German guitarist, singer-songwriter, and composer, born on March 17, 1949 in Berlin and died on October 14, 2016 in Bodenwerder. His music is usually associated with folk, blues, singer-songwriter music, and acoustic fingerstyle guitar. Apple Music lists him as a German singer-songwriter, while YouTube Music describes him as one of the…
Yello is a Swiss electronic music duo from Zürich, formed in 1979. The group is best known as the duo of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank, with founding member Carlos Perón leaving in the early 1980s. Their music mixes electronic pop, synth-pop, new wave, dance, sampling, and experimental sound design. Apple Music describes Yello as…
Yosi Horikawa is a Japanese electronic musician, producer, and sound designer. His music is usually described as electronic, ambient, downtempo, experimental, and field-recording-based sound art. Apple Music describes him as a Japanese producer and sound artist who builds intricate rhythms from natural and everyday sounds, and lists his genre as Electronic. He is especially known…
Youn Sun Nah, also known as Na Yoon-sun, is a South Korean jazz vocalist and singer-songwriter, born in Seoul on August 28, 1969. Her music is mainly jazz / vocal jazz, but she is also known for mixing jazz with chanson, Asian folk influences, avant-pop, and reinterpretations of pop and rock songs. Apple Music describes…