Jazz vocalists which may not be as real as we think/imagine


Sure we could include all genres of vocalists,  but lets focus on jazz performers,,for instance , take Diana Krall. 
I have a  pile of cds that i do not listen to, old rock,,, 2 are my wife's she picked up as gifts, and never listened.
So I figured maybe I can use DK's as a  test reference recording.
Her 1999 and 2001, both seem to my ears her voice is somehow ~~tweeked~~ laid out with modern aids such as EQ's and such.
My Q is , can we really consider DK's voice to be The Real Deal,,, or a  perhaps a toch of  ~ The Fake if not perhaps, bordering on, fraud. 
I really can not use her cds in my testing of new tweeks, mods, , Her voice comes across wayyyy too warm = Colored = a nono for my ears. 
I am after pure cold frigid, icy clean mountain spring water. 
Anyway, justa  random thought,, what say ye? Have you noticed this quirk among other jazz performers such as Sophie Milman, which btw , i do use in  my YT vid uploads of testing reference on tweeks/mods/upgrades. 
Her voice is at least somewhat more~~ a  natural~, Just barely,,had her engineers gonea  tad too far in tweeking, I may have to  also disreagrd her cds. 
Sure you might object and claim all recordings post 1985, have these intrusions of tweeking /EQing the voice, as a  makeover. 
I don't know, maybe in the past 20 yrs things have gotten out of hand. 
So cast your vote, is DK's voice real deal,, or a  tad fake?
Can she perform unpluged as she does on high tech studio records?
mozartfan

Showing 2 responses by riccitone

I don’t think you’re off on this. And everyone here asserts that processing happens everywhere...well hell. The “process” of recording -even in the most unhindered approach and using a single ribbon mic -itself creates a type of signature or artifact that may not be representative of the “truest” sound of the moment. All that aside, there are modern examples of vocal artists grabbed with a real sense of presence, harkening back to some of those techniques of the past. One record I’ve really enjoyed lately with a few different singers (Kurt Elling, Nancy Harms, Kendra Shank) a great reed player in Lucas Pino, centered on an intimate staging with a direct, warm yet non-syrup (little or no reverb or processing so sometimes they’re whispering in your ears) is jazz pianist/composer Jeremy Siskind’s 2015 recording: Housewarming. Check it out and let me know what you think. In fact, many younger jazz musicians (the most honest and applied young jazz musicians and singers) are moving to as little “coloration” in order to preserve and not obscure the interaction and presence in the performance. A mix of traditional jazz intension with new world equipment.