depth

in a time when most women singers are trying to sound like whitney houston or mariah carey, it's nice when one emerges sounding like themselves.

there's always a special place for women singers with deep voices. their tones usually have melancholic histories. when there's humor in the songs they sing, there's always an underlying sarcasm. it sometimes emerges when they push their voices to higher heights, a feat that can teeter on the edge of tears. nina simone, betty carter, dionne warwick, carmen mcrae and etta james mastered the art of manipulating their deep voices to represent a myriad of human emotions. there are a few of the younger generation who do that well, too: rosie gaines, brandy, joan osborne and alice smith.



alice smith has a rich, husky tone. sometimes she sounds like she's singing through a lump in her throat. you can really hear that quality in her song, "do i." then there are times when she sounds like she's humming a ditty that turns into an all-out production while she does some cleaning in her house as her lover strums a guitar ("love endeavor") or plays piano ("secrets").

when i first heard "dream" on her myspace page, i became obsessed with getting her album. hopefully, after reading this, you will be too.