Carmen Lundy, ‘Something to Believe In’

The Guardian U.K., John Fordham
November 28, 2003

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,12102,1094425,00.html

With her fine 1997 album Old Devil Moon, the subtle and rich-toned American singer Carmen Lundy delivered a convincing indication of her stature as an intelligent contemporary appraiser of the legacy of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan – updating it with a mix of subtle funk, playful Latin grooving and a kind of muscular vulnerability. Six out of 10 songs here are Lundy originals, and though the slowly impassioned title track isn’t of the reverberating calibre of You’re Not in Love, it does have an honest, soulful simplicity that is classic Lundy, enhanced by only piano accompaniment.

Michel Legrand’s Windmills of Your Mind gets a distinctive treatment featuring one of three imperious (and at times almost free) contributions from violin star Regina Carter. Happiness Is borders on being a grown-up lullaby, and I Loves You Porgy is a majestic treatment lent extra mystery by the smoky tenor sax of Mark Shim. Surreal-bop lightens the atmosphere and emphasises Lundy’s technical assurance on a closing treatment of James Moody’s Moody’s Mood for Love. A slightly unresolved project, but Lundy is incapable of anything unmusical.