Carmen Lundy
Encyclopedia
Carmen Lundy is an American
jazz
singer, composer
, songwriter
, actress, and painter
. She has been performing for three decades, with a focus on original material. She has been positively compared with Aretha Franklin
, Ella Fitzgerald
and Sarah Vaughan
. She is also the sister of bassist Curtis Lundy
.
, and at the age of six began to study the piano. Her mother, Oveida, was the lead singer in a gospel group known as The Apostolic Singers. After Lundy joined her church junior choir, she decided to become a singer when she was 12 years old. While an opera major at the University of Miami
, where she received a BA in Music, she sang with a jazz band and decided to sing vocal jazz. She cites Dionne Warwick
, Roberta Flack
and Stevie Wonder
as being among her first influences.
She moved to New York
in 1978 where she was hired by the Mel Lewis/Thad Jones Big Band and performed her first New York engagement at the Village Vanguard
in Greenwich Village
. In 1980 she formed her own trio, performing with pianists John Hicks
and Onaje Gumbs
. She has also performed with Walter Bishop Jr., Don Pullen
, Mulgrew Miller
, William Edward Childs
, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kip Hanrahan
, Courtney Pine
, Marian McPartland
, Kenny Kirkland
, and Quasimode
. In 1979 she was featured on a self-titled album from a group called "Jasmine" featuring Bill O'Connell
and Steve Berrios
(West 54 Records).
Lundy has composed and published forty songs. Her compositions have been recorded by such artists as Kenny Barron
("Quiet Times"), Ernie Watts
("At The End Of My Rope"), and Straight Ahead ("Never Gonna Let You Go").
Lundy's first album, Good Morning Kiss (1985) was an album of original compositions, and was reissued in 2002. Her second album was Night and Day (1986), and featured musicians Kenny Kirkland
(piano), Alex Blake
(bass), Curtis Lundy
(bass), Victor Lewis (drums), Rodney Jones (guitar), Ricky Ford (tenor sax).
Lundy played the lead role in the European tour of Duke Ellington's Broadway musical, Sophisticated Ladies. Off-Broadway she portrayed Billie Holiday in Lawrence Holder's They Were All Gardenias. She made her television debut as the star of the CBS Pilot-Special Shangri-La Plaza (1990) in the role of Geneva.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
website has called Carmen Lundy "a woman of many faces: composer, arranger, producer, actress, painter, and sophisticated vocalist well known for her progressive bop and post-bop styling's--an uncompromising jazz singer whose every note is bulls-eye accurate" (The Los Angeles Times). "Equally adept at love-struck ballads, songs of heartbreak, or full-out swing, Lundy wields a voice of agility and seductive allure [that] make for a potent combination."
Her album Jazz & The New Songbook: Live At The Madrid (2005) was recorded live at the Madrid Theatre in Los Angeles
, Lundy draws on repertoire from her previous recordings, backed by brother Curtis Lundy
and Victor Lewis pianists Billy Childs
, Robert Glasper
, Bobby Watson
, Mayra Casales and Phil Upchurch
.
Lundy's oil on canvas paintings have been exhibited in New York at The Jazz Gallery (Soho) and The Jazz Bakery, and in Los Angeles at the Madrid Theater. Her art also appears in the booklets that accompany her CDs.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singer, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, actress, and painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. She has been performing for three decades, with a focus on original material. She has been positively compared with Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
and Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
. She is also the sister of bassist Curtis Lundy
Curtis Lundy
Curtis Lundy is an American double bass player, composer, producer, choir director and arranger. Lundy is best-known for his work as part of jazz vocalist Betty Carter's band, through whose ranks several eventually renowned musicians have passed....
.
Biography
Lundy was born November 1, 1954, in Miami, FloridaMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, and at the age of six began to study the piano. Her mother, Oveida, was the lead singer in a gospel group known as The Apostolic Singers. After Lundy joined her church junior choir, she decided to become a singer when she was 12 years old. While an opera major at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
, where she received a BA in Music, she sang with a jazz band and decided to sing vocal jazz. She cites Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
, Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
and Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
as being among her first influences.
She moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1978 where she was hired by the Mel Lewis/Thad Jones Big Band and performed her first New York engagement at the Village Vanguard
Village Vanguard
The Village Vanguard is a jazz club located at in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon. At first, it also featured other forms of music such as folk music and beat poetry, but it switched to an all-jazz format in 1957.-History:Over 100 jazz...
in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
. In 1980 she formed her own trio, performing with pianists John Hicks
John Hicks (jazz pianist)
John Josephus Hicks, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and composer, active in the New York and the international jazz scene from the mid-1960s.-Biography:...
and Onaje Gumbs
Onaje Allan Gumbs
Onaje Allan Gumbs is a New York-based pianist, composer, and bandleader.-Early life:Born in Harlem, Onaje grew up in St. Albans, Queens, and started playing piano at age 7. Henry Mancini was one of his earliest and greatest influences from watching the TV shows "Peter Gunn" and "Mr Lucky" at age 8...
. She has also performed with Walter Bishop Jr., Don Pullen
Don Pullen
Don Pullen was an American jazz pianist and organist. Pullen developed a strikingly individual style throughout his career. He composed masterworks ranging from blues to bebop and modern jazz...
, Mulgrew Miller
Mulgrew Miller
Mulgrew Miller is an American jazz pianist who performs in a number of jazz idioms. He began his career as member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.-Biography:...
, William Edward Childs
William Edward Childs
William Edward Childs is a composer and jazz pianist from Los Angeles.Born March 8, 1957, he began piano lessons when he was six. When he was 16, Childs started attending the Community School of the Performing Arts, a prestigious music program sponsored by the University of Southern California...
, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kip Hanrahan
Kip Hanrahan
Kip Hanrahan is an American jazz music impresario, record producer and percussionist.-Biography:Hanrahan was born in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in the Bronx to an Irish-Jewish family. He has an unusual role in the albums released under his name, one which he has analogized to that of a film...
, Courtney Pine
Courtney Pine
Courtney Pine CBE is an English jazz musician. At school he studied the clarinet, although he is known primarily for his saxophone playing. Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also playing the flute, clarinet, bass Clarinet and keyboards...
, Marian McPartland
Marian McPartland
Margaret Marian McPartland, OBE is an English-born jazz pianist, composer, writer, and the host of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz on National Public Radio, NPR.-Early life:...
, Kenny Kirkland
Kenny Kirkland
Kenneth David “Kenny” Kirkland was an American pianist/keyboardist. He is most often associated with Sting, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, and Kenny Garrett....
, and Quasimode
Quasimode (band)
Quasimode is a 4 piece Jazz band based in Tokyo, Japan and was formed in 2002. Their sound is based on jazz rhythms from the 60s and 70s and has been linked with Soil & "Pimp" Sessions and Sleep Walker.-Studio albums:* 2006: oneself-LIKENESS ...
. In 1979 she was featured on a self-titled album from a group called "Jasmine" featuring Bill O'Connell
Bill O'Connell
Bill O'Connell is a jazz pianist and bandleader. He is most associated with Latin jazz and also hard bop. He studied piano at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, but has mostly lived in NYC or Long Island. He worked for Chet Baker and Sonny Rollins at early stages in his career...
and Steve Berrios
Steve Berrios
Steve Berrios is a jazz drummer and percussionist born in New York, New York. He started playing trumpet, but is not known for the instrument. He often performs in the Afro-Cuban jazz medium, having done stints with Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers, Joe Panama and Mongo Santamaría...
(West 54 Records).
Lundy has composed and published forty songs. Her compositions have been recorded by such artists as Kenny Barron
Kenny Barron
Kenny Barron , is an American jazz pianist. He is the younger brother of tenor saxophonist Bill Barron, and known for his lyrical, adaptive style.-Biography:...
("Quiet Times"), Ernie Watts
Ernie Watts
Ernest James "Ernie" Watts is an American jazz and rhythm and blues musician. He plays saxophone and flute. He might be best known for his work with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and his Grammy Awards as an instrumentalist...
("At The End Of My Rope"), and Straight Ahead ("Never Gonna Let You Go").
Lundy's first album, Good Morning Kiss (1985) was an album of original compositions, and was reissued in 2002. Her second album was Night and Day (1986), and featured musicians Kenny Kirkland
Kenny Kirkland
Kenneth David “Kenny” Kirkland was an American pianist/keyboardist. He is most often associated with Sting, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, and Kenny Garrett....
(piano), Alex Blake
Alex Blake
Alex Blake is a post bop jazz double-bassist who began his career with Sun Ra in his band Arkestra. A live performance compilation was released by Bubble Core Records in 2000 titled Now Is the Time: Live at the Knitting Factory...
(bass), Curtis Lundy
Curtis Lundy
Curtis Lundy is an American double bass player, composer, producer, choir director and arranger. Lundy is best-known for his work as part of jazz vocalist Betty Carter's band, through whose ranks several eventually renowned musicians have passed....
(bass), Victor Lewis (drums), Rodney Jones (guitar), Ricky Ford (tenor sax).
Lundy played the lead role in the European tour of Duke Ellington's Broadway musical, Sophisticated Ladies. Off-Broadway she portrayed Billie Holiday in Lawrence Holder's They Were All Gardenias. She made her television debut as the star of the CBS Pilot-Special Shangri-La Plaza (1990) in the role of Geneva.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
website has called Carmen Lundy "a woman of many faces: composer, arranger, producer, actress, painter, and sophisticated vocalist well known for her progressive bop and post-bop styling's--an uncompromising jazz singer whose every note is bulls-eye accurate" (The Los Angeles Times). "Equally adept at love-struck ballads, songs of heartbreak, or full-out swing, Lundy wields a voice of agility and seductive allure [that] make for a potent combination."
Her album Jazz & The New Songbook: Live At The Madrid (2005) was recorded live at the Madrid Theatre in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Lundy draws on repertoire from her previous recordings, backed by brother Curtis Lundy
Curtis Lundy
Curtis Lundy is an American double bass player, composer, producer, choir director and arranger. Lundy is best-known for his work as part of jazz vocalist Betty Carter's band, through whose ranks several eventually renowned musicians have passed....
and Victor Lewis pianists Billy Childs
William Edward Childs
William Edward Childs is a composer and jazz pianist from Los Angeles.Born March 8, 1957, he began piano lessons when he was six. When he was 16, Childs started attending the Community School of the Performing Arts, a prestigious music program sponsored by the University of Southern California...
, Robert Glasper
Robert Glasper
Robert Glasper in Houston, Texas is an American jazz pianist and record producer.-Career:Glasper’s earliest musical influence was his mother, Kim Yvette Glasper, who sang jazz and blues professionally. She would bring him with her to club dates rather than leave her son with babysitters...
, Bobby Watson
Bobby Watson
Bobby Watson is an American post-bop jazz alto saxophonist, composer, producer, and educator. Watson now has 26 recordings as a leader. He appears on nearly 100 other recordings as either co-leader or in a supporting role...
, Mayra Casales and Phil Upchurch
Phil Upchurch
Phil Upchurch is an American jazz and R&B guitarist and bassist.Upchurch started his career working with The Kool Gents, The Dells, and The Spaniels before going on to work with Curtis Mayfield, Otis Rush and Jimmy Reed. He then returned to Chicago to play and record with Woody Herman, Stan Getz,...
.
Lundy's oil on canvas paintings have been exhibited in New York at The Jazz Gallery (Soho) and The Jazz Bakery, and in Los Angeles at the Madrid Theater. Her art also appears in the booklets that accompany her CDs.
Discography
| Year | Title | Genre | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Good Morning Kiss | Jazz | Blackhawk |
| 1986 | Night And Day | Jazz | Sony (Japan) |
| 1992 | Moment to Moment | Jazz | Arabesque Arabesque Records Arabesque Records is an American classical and jazz record label.Arabesque began as a classical music subsidiary of the Caedmon company. In 1988, Marvin Reiss and Ward Botsford bought the company, turning it into an independent, and continued releasing classical until 1992, when it switched focuses... |
| 1995 | Self Portrait | Jazz | Jvc |
| 1997 | Old Devil Moon | Jazz | Jvc |
| 1997 | Love Me Forever | Jazz | Jvc |
| 2001 | This Is Carmen Lundy | Jazz | Justin Time |
| 2002 | Good Morning Kiss (Reissued) | Jazz | Justin Time |
| 2003 | Something to Believe In | Jazz | Justin Time |
| 2005 | Jazz and the New Songbook: Live at the Madrid | Jazz | Afrasia Productions |
| 2007 | Come Home | Jazz | Afrasia Productions |
| 2009 | Solamente | Jazz | Afrasia Productions |