Fade to Black Live at the 2022 Chicago Jazz Festival Review

Bob Benenson, Third Coast Review | 09/06/2022

Carmen Lundy Does It Her Way

Carmen Lundy, an enduring jazz vocalist, graduated from University of Miami with a music degree and moved to New York at age 24 in 1978. During her Jazz Festival set Saturday evening, she told the audience she started out like most jazz singers, covering classic tunes, and she sang a couple of bars from “My Funny Valentine” to make the point.

But, Lundy added, that’s how you start out. In 1985 she composed her first song, “Good Morning Kiss,” which she performed as her encore. Since then, she has focused almost entirely on performing her own work, with her 15th album, Fade to Black, about to be released.  Unlike most jazz vocal performances, only her dedicated fans could mouth the words to her songs, yet Lundy’s passionate renditions and regal presence commanded the audience’s attention.

Love songs made up most of Lundy’s set list, with titles such as “The Island, the Sea, and You,” “Lonesome Blue Butterfly,” “Meant for Each Other,” “So Amazing,” and “Don’t You Know How I Feel.” She added some Latin influence in “Ola de Color” (Spanish for heatwave), gospel in “Burden Down, Burden Down,” and a call for love and compassion in “Kumbaya” (her own jazz composition, not the familiar hymn by the same name).

Lundy also has not shied away from the political, and the new album has a cut titled “Ain’t I Human?” that goes after those who would take away her right to vote and her right to choose. (“Nothing you can do to keep me down.”)

Ably backed by Julius Rodriguez on piano, Andrew Renfroe on guitar, Kenny Davis on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums, Lundy proved why she has been such a major presence for more than 40 years, even without a funny valentine.