Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Carmen Lundy was born November 1, 1954 in Miami, Florida and at the age of six began to study the piano. After joining 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 she sang with a jazz band and her decision to sing vocal jazz was cemented.

Moving to New York in 1978 Carmen was hired by the Mel Lewis/Thad Jones Big Band and performed her first engagement at the Village Vanguard in Greenwich Village. Two years later she formed her own trio, performing with pianists John Hicks and Onaje Allan Gumbs. She has also performed with Walter Bishop Jr., Don Pullen, Mulgrew Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Courtney Pine, Bill O’Connell, Steve Berrios, Marian McPartland, Kenny Kirkland and numerous others.

Lundy recorded her first album of original compositions Good Morning Kiss in 1985 followed by her sophomore project Night and Day the next year featuring musicians Kenny Kirkland, Alex Blake, her brother Curtis Lundy, Victor Lewis, Rodney Jones and Ricky Ford.

Carmen 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 in 1990 as the star of the CBS pilot-special Shangri-La Plaza in the role of Geneva.

A composer, arranger, producer, actress, painter, and sophisticated vocalist well known for her progressive bop and post-bop styling’s, Lundy has composed and published forty songs with favorites such as Quiet Times, Forgive Me, The Out Crowd, and Never Gonna Let You Go that have been recorded by Kenny Barron, Ernie Watts and Straight Ahead. With thirteen albums to her credit Carmen Lundy continues to focus on original material as she moves her three-decade career forward.

THE WATCHFUL EYE

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The Incredible Jazz Guitar Of Wes Montgomery is a dazzling display of the unorthodox technique and emotional power that combined to make Wes a literally “incredible” artist. Ever since its initial release in 1960, this album has been a consensus choice of musicians, critics and knowledgeable listeners as a matchless example of the talents of one of the finest jazz instrumentalists of all times.

Personnel: Wes Montgomery – guitar, Tommy Flanagan – piano, Percy Heath – bass, Albert “Tootie” Heath – drums

Producer: Orrin Keepnews

Record Date: New York City – January 26 & 28, 1960

Cover Art: Produced and designed by Paul Bacon, Ken Braren and Harris Lewine

Songs: Airegin, D-Natural Blues, Polka Dots & Moonbeams, Four On Six, West Coast Blues, In Your Own Sweet Way, Mr. Walker (Renie), Gone With The Wind

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The Cats: In the Fifties, Tommy Flanagan was one of the most highly valued pianists in jazz. His appearance on record was primarily as a sideman, well appreciated by his fellow musicians but not recognized for their display of his superior abilities by a wider audience.

This album contains a Flanagan trio track “How Long Has This Been Going On?” surrounded with the choice, empathetic soloists as Coltrane, Burrell and Sulieman. It is still a delight to hear their interaction to this day with Tommy and the all-Detroit rhythm section of Doug Watkins and Louis Hayes. Flanagan penned all of the originals on this album.

Personnel: Tommy Flanagan – piano, John Coltrane – tenor saxophone, Idrees Sulieman – trumpet, Kenny Burrell – guitar, Doug Watkins – bass, Louis Hayes – drums

Record date: Hackensack, New Jersey – April 18, 1957

Supervised by: Bob Weinstock

Songs: Minor Mishap; How Long Has This Been Going On; Eclypso; Solacium; Tommy’s Tune

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