Carol said:
Thanks for the suggestions Black Dog. I did a search and found a CD called "Ladies Sing the Blues" with Ella and Billie. I will order it Monday. One of the drawbacks of living in a country town is always having to wait for goods and having to pay for delivery. Paper and chemicals can be quite a challenge to access too. Cheers. Carol.
If you haven't heard much from either of these two artists, you are in for a revelation and a treat.
On the country side, If I may, I'd like to make a reccomendation. A Canadian group called "Blackie and the Rodeo Kings", who are sometimes also known by their acronym "BART". They have three recordings, and all are very fine. The first is entitled "High or Hurting" (I think - its in my car), the second is a double CD entitled Kings of Love and the third is just titled BARK. My favorite is the second. They consist of three very experienced and fine musicians, vocalists and song writers - Colin Linden, who is a fine producer and blues guitarist, Stephen Fearing, who has a folk background, and Tom Wilson, who has years of rock and blues experience. They were inspired to get together and play by their common love of the songs of Willie P. Bennett, and many of their songs were written by him (thus the country feel), but there is much more there too.
They are also absolutely wonderful live - I and my wife saw them last year in Vancouver at the Vancouver East Cultural centre, which is an old converted church, which probably seats no more than 200. They just mesmorized the crowd, although I think they were at least slightly intimidated by the rapt attention - they have been touring and playing more in clubs and bars then in concert venues.
Come to think of it, although they use electric and electronic tools, there show is very "analogue". They are able to create their beautifully latered and complex sounds essentially by using only their guitars (both acoustic and electric) and their voices. At their show, there was no other musicians - no drummer, and no keyboards or bass. Their very different guitar stylings and their fine vocals provided all that was necessary.