Lundy Debut’s Chicago?!

Throughout her thriving four decades long career of impressing the world with her singing talents, Carmen Lundy has also proven that her gifts extend far beyond her voice.    A multi- instrumentalist who writes virtually all of the songs that she performs (she can boast scores to her credit), her inner muse has also allowed her to assemble some of the most talented musicians in the world of jazz as her band members.  Any jazz vocalist would welcome accolades that praise her skills of interpretation, her stylistic acumen or the genuineness of her expression.  Lundy has been showered with acclaim for all of that for what might as well be forever.  And mysteriously, she never comes to Chicago, until now.

Her gifts as a bandleader, lyricist and singer that were all on imposing display at the Jazz Showcase last weekend.  Often referred to as the “real deal” when it comes to her singing style as a vocalist, there is an undefinable something that characterizes her delivery, the emotional content of her material and manner in which she “lives” the song.  You can call her material deep or you could call it emotionally perceptive.   However it’s characterized, the superb quality of both, rendered with a voice that’s so beautifully polished and masterfully controlled, it easily dazzles with technique alone.

Lundy is far too accomplished a performer though to allow mere method to carry the day.  People come to a jazz performance to feel with their minds as well as their souls.  Whether the tempo is up or down, listeners want to be drawn in and experience the core embers that give a song its purpose.  Lundy’s opening number, Live Out Loud, a gentle and compelling plea to live life fully “or never live at all” let the audience know that they were in a special room at a special time Sunday night.   She so fully gave herself to the song that there was no question of either her sincerity or the simmering urgency of her message.  That rendition accomplished two things at once.  It affirmed how the petite Lundy reached the high stature she’s attained as a jazz singer and it placed in high relief the exemplary quality of her band. 

Chicago, as much a music town as it is anything else, loves R & B.  There was a time when Lundy’s pianist, Patrice Rushen, was all over that world.  The first woman to act as musical director of the Grammy’s in 2004, Rushen straddled the continents of jazz and R & B for years before finally settling luxuriously in the jazz camp.  Many in the audience remembered and appreciated the old Rushen as much as it does the new one and were quite enthusiastic in their appreciation for the incarnation performing that night.   Rushen’s standing in the jazz world is lofty and the rest of Lundy’s quartet enjoys similar regard.  Jeff Parker on guitar and Kenny Davis on bass are coveted side men who were as flawless and as they were innovative all evening; while Jamison Ross smoothly feathered drums.

The show’s repertoire included the reflective I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings from her Solamente album and the charmingly quick and spirited Soul to Soul.

The tenuous state of the country’s political terrain has the artistic community so engaged that it’s rare when you don’t hear that someone has written a song to reflect their concern about where we are and where we’re going.  Lundy’s Blacks and Blues was her statement that really became a question asking when will popular consciousness finally awaken and end this two tier playing field where justice remains restrictive to some but not others.  Loud and brash to the point of brittle; the sound of the song was really bigger than the room.  No one seemed to mind because so many appeared in full agreement with the sentiment.

Carmen Lundy

Jazz Showcase

806 S. Plymouth Ct.

Chicago, IL    60605

www.jazzshowcase.com