"Midnight Sun" is one of my favorite songs on earth. This song gives me the perfect opportunity to compare and contrast the women who I see as the alpha and omega of female jazz singers, and the epitome of Diva and Mensch in that world: Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.

Mensch: Ella Fitzgerald

Diva; Sarah Vaughan

ELLA AS MENSCH

Her sound is warm, plush, welcoming, intimate. She brings the listener into her world. Her singing (when she uses words) is tied to the words and illuminates the genius of the composer.

SASSY AS DIVA

Her sound is grand, imposing, impressive, larger than life. She presents her voice to the listener and invites him/her to bask in it. Her singing (when she uses words) is not always tied to the words (her singing is often instrumental in that sense, she been known to do a cadenza on the word "as") and she uses the genius of the composer as a launching pad for her own genius.

I love both of them and see them both as essential, but Sarah Vaughan thrills me more, so I'd say she's my favorite of the two.