11. Minnie RipertonCome To My Garden

For a while I was listening to a lot of Minnie Riperton, Yma Sumac, and Mariah Carey, and I got really into trying to develop coloratura. I loved how freeing it sounded to hit those whistle notes. I would spend hours working on the top of my voice, but it never felt as bodiless as I heard in Minnie. Her voice is graceful and incisive, an exceptional tool. Listening to her sing feels so soothing, and dare I say, a bit angelic! It has a small quality to it that is shocking when you consider the amount of range she has within it. My voice has always been big and clumsy, forceful but never quite as graceful. I guess they say you always want what you don’t have. Hers is small and buoyant. It has wings. I could listen to it all day.