Voice
Laine is famed for not only her interpretative style, but also her four-octave range and vocal adaptability. As well as hitting deep soulful notes, Laine's thrilling scatting and crystalline top notes have become her signature. Though her natural range is that of a contralto she is able to produce a "G above high C". Derek Jewel of the Sunday Times dubbed her "quite simply the best singer in the world."
The longevity of Laine's voice has also been noted by, amongst others, her husband. At the age of 80 her vocals, he noted during an interview, were almost unchanged from decades earlier.
Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Lena Horne were all influences on Laine when she was young.
Read more about this topic: Cleo Laine
Famous quotes containing the word voice:
“And still we wear our uniforms, follow
The cracked cry of the bugles, comb and brush
Our pride and prejudice, doctor the sallow
Initial ardor, wish to keep it fresh.
Still we applaud the President’s voice and face.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
“The steel decks rock with the lightning shock, and shake with the
great recoil,
And the sea grows red with the blood of the dead and reaches for his spoil—
But not till the foe has gone below or turns his prow and runs,
Shall the voice of peace bring sweet release to the men behind the
guns!”
—John Jerome Rooney (1866–1934)
“With fingers weary and worn,
With eyelids heavy and red,
A woman sat, in unwomanly rags,
Plying her needle and thread—
Stitch! stitch! stitch!
In poverty, hunger and dirt
And still with a voice of dolorous pitch
She sang the “Song of the Shirt.””
—Thomas Hood (1799–1845)