Carmen Lundy
A native of Miami, Florida, Carmen Lundy's path to being one of today's most talented, respected and sophisticated jazz singers began at age six, with her first piano lessons. Deeply inspired by her mother, Oveida, who was then lead singer in the gospel group The Apostolic Singers, Carmen joined her church's junior choir. A passion for music was instilled for life, and it was with total determination that young Carmen began her professional career performing at local high schools as part of the vocal duo "Steph and Tret."
It was soon after that she made her first recording, The Price Of Silence, while still in her teens. Ms. Lundy attended The University Of Miami as an Opera major, but soon discovered that jazz was where her talent really shined. She later graduated with a degree in Studio Music and Jazz - one of the first singers to do so. After working steadily at jazz clubs in Miami and traveling to Europe and North Africa with the University of Miami Big Band in 1977, Lundy moved to New York City in the spring of '78. She immediately began working in jazz circles throughout the Tri-State area, and from Harlem to Greenwich Village, and quickly impressed the notoriously critical jazz cognoscenti and audiences alike. Esteemed critic Gary Giddins stated (in 1983), 'Jazz singing stopped regenerating itself about 20 years ago, and it's not hard to see why, so it's with some trepidation that I call your attention to an authentic young jazz singer named Carmen Lundy - she's got it all.'
Armed with a devoted following and critical kudos, the uncompromising Ms. Lundy continued to make waves, not just in North America, but in Asia and throughout the UK and Europe. Carmen Lundy has recorded six albums as a leader, and has performed and recorded as a soloist with the Akron Symphony Orchestra and The Vallejo Symphony Orchestra in a piece written for her by pianist/ composer Billy Childs (The Distant Land). Ms. Lundy's performance history covers a broad range, from big bands to choral works and duos. Ms. Lundy has traveled extensively throughout Europe, The United Kingdom, Brazil, and Japan, at Jazz Festivals and noted clubs (such as Ronnie Scott's, London), and re-cently completed a sold out engagement in the Singers Over Manhattan series, produced by Jazz At Lincoln Center. Ms. Lundy has performed or recorded with such musicians as Walter Bishop Jr., Wynton Marsalis, Ray Barretto, Don Pullen, Kenny Barron, John Hicks, Ernie Watts, Mulgrew Miller, Billy Childs,Teri Lynn Car-rington, Jimmy Scott, Kip Hanrahan, Courtney Pine, Marian McPartland, and the late Kenny Kirkland.
Ms. Lundy's work has been critically acclaimed by The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, as well as numerous foreign publications. Ms. Lundy is also a composer and songwriter whose catalogue numbers about thirty published 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"), and can also be found on her own recordings Old Devil Moon (JVC), Self Portrait (JVC), Moment To Moment (Arabesque), Night And Day (CBS/SONY), and Good Morning Kiss (CLR). Now signed to Justin Time, Ms. Lundy's most recent recording, This Is Carmen Lundy (released Sept 2001), is now garnering rave reviews the world over. Lundy's own record label is CLR, and she has recently re-issued her debut album, Good Morning Kiss, as a special limited edition release. Ms. Lundy is also a gifted actress active in theatre. "Acting," as she recently told Dr. Billy Taylor, "helps me to get more comfortable and acquainted with the art of performance."
She performed the lead role as Billie Holiday in the Off-Off Broadway play "They Were All Gardenias" by Lawrence Holder, as well as the lead role in the Broadway show, Duke Ellington's 'Sophisticated Ladies," and she made her television debut as the star of the CBS Pilot-Special "Shangri-La Plaza" in the role of Geneva, after which she relocated to Los Angeles, where she currently resides. Teaching, too, is an important activity for Ms Lundy; she's given Master Classes in Australia, Denmark, Japan, Switzerland, New York, Northern California, and Los Angeles. She has participated in Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead Program at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as guest artist and clinician, working alongside her brother, noted bassist Curtis Lundy.
She has worked with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz as guest artist and clinician, and she is an active board member of YES Inc. (Young Educated Singers Inc.). Carmen Lundy is also a gifted artist whose paintings (mostly oil on canvas) have been exhibited in New York at The Jazz Gallery (Soho) and at The Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles.
