
I am going to pimp Laura Nyro here, I think I might have done this before, but not sure.
http://www.myspace.com/lauranyroThat is a decent source to hear some of her music. She's a singer from the 70s, but her work extends past that period. Some of her songs people know through other artists, but her own work is great and I'm not sure how she never became a 'diva'.
Some albums to check out:
New York Tenderberry
Eli & The 13th Confession
Christmas and the Beads of Sweat
And her album of covers, which I forget the name of.
Also, her music is featured in the movie A Home at the End of the World, but is not on the soundtrack.