MUSIC

Boston, Massachusetts (and its sister city across the Charles River, Cambridge) boasts the largest concentration of higher education students in the United States. Boston University, Northeastern University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T), and Emerson College mingle with smaller schools such as Simmons College and Wheelock College to make Boston truly a stronghold of education and knowledge on the East Coast. Representing the arts in education are The Institute Of Contemporary Art, the Berklee College Of Music and the New England Conservatory Of Music. Jazz vocalist/composer Carmen Lundy – long a proponent of, and contributor to, the educational process – brings her magic, her show, her trio, to Boston’s pre-eminent jazz venue – Scullers Jazz Club – on Thursday June 23rd, 2011.

Appearing with Ms. Lundy at Scullers will be Anthony Wonsey on piano, Kenny Davis on bass, and Jamison Ross on drums, Lundy’s seasoned trio of accompanists. This trio has traveled far and wide to spread Ms. Lundy’s jazz message; appearing with her at the Artists Collective in Hartford, Connecticut; Detroit, Michigan’s Institute Of Art; and the legendary Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City. Lundy’s trio has become a vibrant live unit, particularly in their role supporting Carmen on the Solamente material. Unlike her earlier releases like 2008’s Come Home or 2003’s Something To Believe In, Solamente, Lundy’s latest project and her eleventh CD release, found Carmen not only writing and producing the album, but also playing every note of music on the project. Layering her at times languorous, at times defiant, at virtually all times sublime vocals over her own accompaniment on piano, bass and drums, Solamente was, in every sense of the word, a solo project. Now Wonsey, Davis, Ross and Lundy combine their talents to expand and refine the ideas and themes presented on Solamente, as well as material from the Live At The Madrid CD and DVD and Lundy's other early work.

The releases noted above, as well as many others, comprise Carmen Lundy’s New Jazz Songbook, a collection of 60 of her self-penned compositions. One of those compositions, “One More River To Cross” was composed by Ms. Lundy using words from the famous Langston Hughes poem “I’ve Known Rivers,” and was first presented on Lundy’s 2001 release This Is Carmen Lundy. Carmen has also toured extensively as a soloist with Mary Lou’s Mass, a work composed by Mary Lou Williams with arrangements by Lundy often performed with the brilliant jazz pianist, Gerri Allen.

This show will mark Ms. Lundy’s inaugural appearance at Scullers Jazz Club. Scullers – founded in 1989 by noted jazz impresario Fred Taylor, whose previous ventures include the legendary Boston venues Paul’s Mall and the Jazz Workshop – has been voted “Boston’s # 1 Jazz Club” by Boston Magazine as well as “Best Live Music Venue.” Jazz legends Bobby Short, Marian McPartland and Wynton Marsalis have all graced the Scullers stage. Newer artists following in the footsteps of those jazz giants at Scullers have included Harry Connick Jr., Diana Krall, and Chris Botti.