Carmen Lundy on the cover of Hot House Jazz magazine

Carmen Lundy: Songs In The Key Of She

Eugene Holley Jr. | Hot House Jazz, November 2022

Miami-born, Los Angeles-based vocalist, composer and lyricist Carmen Lundy appears in two shows in her old New York stomping grounds. On Dec. 16, she is going to perform selections from her new Grammy-nominated CD, Fade To Black, at Aaron Davis Hall. The concert, presented through a grant from Chamber Music America, features Carmen backed by pianist/keyboardist Julius Rodriguez, keyboardist/organist Matthew Whitaker, bassists Ben Williams and brother Curtis Lundy, drummer Terreon Gully, and guitarist Andrew Renfroe. On the 17th and 18th, Carmen leads a quartet at The Side Door Jazz Club in Old Lyme, Conn.

All of those musicians, with bassist Kenny Davis instead of Ben, play on Carmen’s recording, along with trumpeters Giveton Gelin and Wallace Roney Jr. and tenor saxophonists Camille Thurman and Morgan Guerin. The CD’s 11 compositions, all by Carmen, reflect what she went through during the pandemic: the dying of loved ones, the isolation of lockdown, police brutality, racial unrest, and the spiritual power of love.

“I could not really ignore the horror of someone being murdered on live TV,” Carmen says. “I couldn’t ignore watching people explode into the streets behind [those atrocities] when we were deep into a pandemic, or having to say goodbye to a young brother who didn’t get the vaccine … having to say goodbye to his sister, having someone dear and close be diagnosed with cancer, or having to address the political social issues. So I decided not to look the other way.”

The selections on Fade To Black – the follow-up to her 2021 Grammy-nominated album Modern Ancestors – are the musical manifestations of what Carmen saw and felt during the pandemic. They range from the elegiac opening number, “Shine a Light,” the bouncy “So Amazing,” and the rhythmically complex “Lonesome Blue Butterfly” to “Daughter of the Universe,” a quiet storm praise song to the power of the sacred feminine. “Ain’t I Human” is a passionate, Coltranesque composition inspired by freedom fighter Sojourner Truth’s suffrage era speech, and the powerful, evocative “Say Her Name” is a mournful dedication to the parents of the children and young adults killed by the police.

Though Carmen’s cool and caressing contralto is the beacon that shines through on this recording, it is her work as a composer that gives her music the extra dimension that is not heard when a singer is merely singing standards. “The compositional part of my expression as a jazz vocalist is the most important part of my narrative right now,” Carmen declares. “I want the jazz audience to ask singers to include music of this time in their repertoire.” Carmen draws compositional inspiration from Mary Lou Williams, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Stevie Wonder.

Carmen started playing piano at age 6. She and her brother sang in church with her mother, who also performed in her family group, The Apostolic Singers. “Curtis and I are eleven months apart,” Carmen remembers. “We benefited from going to church seven days a week, and from having a mother who sang beautifully for her entire life with the same five, six, seven or eight women.”

Carmen originally enrolled in the University of Miami to study opera, but switched to jazz at the urging of pianist Dave Roitstein, who is currently the Jazz Program Director at California Institute of the Arts. Carmen was in school with several future jazz stars including Hiram Bullock, Bobby Watson and Pat Metheny. After years of gigging in Miami, Carmen moved to New York in 1978 (she received her degree in 1981), and worked with a wide variety of musicians including Kenny Barron, Ray Barretto, Walter Bishop Jr. and Ronnie Matthews. She released her debut album, Good Morning Kiss, in 1985 and moved to Los Angeles in 1991.
Carmen’s artistry extends beyond music. She is a videographer, and her documentary, Nothing But The Blood: The True Story Of The Apostolic Singers of Miami, premiered at the DTLA Film Festival in Los Angeles in September. She is also a visual artist. Her artwork graces the album cover of Fade To Black, and her sculptures were shown at the Shifting The Narrative: Jazz and Gender Justice exhibit at Detroit’s Carr Center in October. She sees her artwork as a way for her to renew her music with new vitality.
“I think that over time, I needed to get away from the music,” Carmen confesses. “It’s a part of knowing and learning who you are, and coming back fresh.”

Carmen Lundy performs at Aaron Davis Hall on Dec. 16, and at The Side Door Jazz Club on Dec. 17-18.