Renee Manning

Comparable to Ernestine Anderson, Marlena Shaw, and Dee Dee Bridgewater, Renee Manning is a gutsy, soulful, jazz vocalist who has blues and R&B leanings. On uptempo material and jazz blues numbers, the native New Yorker can be brassy, aggressive, gritty and hard-swinging. But she has no problem being sensitive and introspective on ballads. In fact, those who listen closely to Manning's ballad performances may, at times, hear traces of Billie Holiday in her phrasing. But Manning definitely has a bigger voice, and overall, she is a much more robust type of singer than Lady Day -...