This Is Carmen Lundy

Carmen Lundy has that rare combination of qualities found in great jazz singers: imagination, a superb sense of swing phrasing and improvisation, a broad vocal range with powerful lungs, and a sure grasp of jazz tradition. This Is ... features not only Lundy's voice, but also her songwriting, another of her talents. While her lyrics are not always as clever as her music, with its challenging turnarounds and charged interplay, Lundy's baring of her life experiences makes This Is ... a record you can sink your ears into. Her band, including brother Curtis Lundy on bass, drummer Ralph Peterson, pianist Anthony Wonsey, and saxophonists Mark Shim and Bobby Watson, can sometimes sound tentative and they are ill-supported by a diaphanous mix. But Carmen and her songs are the stars. Several tunes ("This Is the End of a Love Affair," "Now That He's Gone," "Send Me Somebody to Love") sound like standards, so winsome are their melodies and arrangements. Best of all, Lundy sounds like she is having a ball, even when the band misses a cue. This Is Carmen Lundy is a solid album, a promising foretaste of things to come. Heaven is 'round the corner for this multithreat talent. --Ken Micallef