"I can sing anything ... anything at all !"  - Dinah
(... could she indeed)

	Peggy Lee is to Nat King Cole
	what Sarah Vaughan is to Mel Torme
	while Carmen McRae is to Sammy Davis
	what Billie Holiday is to Bill Henderson
	and so, if Ella Fitzgerald is to Frank Sinatra
	who might be the counterpart to Dinah Washington ...
	answer:  Ray Charles (like Dinah, Ray has taken his share of criticism for "selling out" ... neglecting his genius for the more common musical delights.)

Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, Anita O'Day, Johnny Hartmann, Betty Carter

Dinah was not a song stylist in the vaulted tradition of Carmen et al...   Widely regarded as one of the 4 greatest female jazz singers.... (I'd add Carmen McRae, and make it 5) ... but her notariety is not nearly that of the prinicipal three, Billie, Sarah, Ella.    Why not the same attention as billie, sarah, ella ??

Dinah was hardly proper -- only in song was her expression flawless / impeccable ...
(Vulgar ... not tragic ... boisterous ...  --- Dinah was not aloof; possessed few affectations; and made no effort to suppress or conceal a decidedly earthy, folksy demeanor)
not a chanteuse or diva in the true sense (she poked as much fun as she took pride in her designation as queen)
... not as beautiful (in fact, regarded as homely ... though if she had lived in the present-day, Dinah would likely be regarded utterly attractive and vivacious, if not a rather sexy full-figured woman) ... Sarah, Ella, and Billie were in any case each more widely regarded as good-looking and classy.
... but for legitimate reasons stemming from the nature of her career.
... all over the map (consistency…)
... race singer (popular w/negro audience) .. unlike her peers, she did not front for a major bandleader for any serious stay
... the label saw a better opportunity in making Dinah more of a personality ... a culturally welcome and familiar voice ...  (Lionel Hampton)
... quest for larger fame/audience/impact ...popularity (an obsession which managed to suffocate once vital performers such as ... ) ... undermines one's craft

Largely speaking, it was a strategy that worked ... Despite her relatively brief devotion to negro blues, Dinah inherited (from Bessie Smith) the title Queen of the Blues ... it was a self-adorned alias which would never fall to question.  Moreover at the midpoint of her career, she was easily the most financially successful female singer alive -- beginning a long and steady string of jukebox hits and continuing through her richly musical Emarcy period.

No scat, no slur ... one of the most consistently on-key singers (on record and in person).  Although her speech and pronunciation was, when speaking, shoddy and decidedly colloquial .. her song presentation was sterling .. her diction impeccable.  There is but one mistake she is known to have made ... (her second recording of her #2 all-time hit I Wanna Be Loved ... in which she transposes the plural noun in the phrase ... when our heartbeats intermingle .. hearts beat intermingle (passable poetry)

Quotes:

Dinah:  I could sing anything, anything at all!

Quincy Jones:

Leonard Feather:

Abbey Lincoln:

Diane Schuur:

The Queen of the Blues ?
The Swingin' Miss D. ?
Godmother to Patti, Aretha

What a Difference a Day Made?