Beside Nnenna Freelon and Dianne Reeves Carmen Lundy is one of my favourite jazz singers, but until now she hasn't really gained wider recognition which is such a pity considering her talent. With This Is Carmen Lundy being released on a small Canadian label it really doesn't look like things will change though. But This Is Carmen Lundy is really a step forward for Carmen and shows much of her talent. Not only has she written all 9 songs on offer but she also made the horn arrangements on Better Luck Next Time for example. Recording self-penned material only isn't so common in modern vocal jazz if you compare recent records of Nnenna, Dianne or Cassandra Wilson that may feature some self-written songs amongst some jazzed-up cover versions and the usual standards we all know so well.
What really brings the songs to live is -of course- Carmen's voice. Just listen to Now That He's Gone and notice the Kevin Louis on muted trumpet portraying the female part in the lyrics. The perfect song for all who lost their lover recently. Or the not so sad This Is The End Of A Love Affair ('Not so long ago we fell in love and oh!/ It was grand, it was heavenly bliss/ Now all the love has gone away/ It's been replaced with bitterness/ This is the end of a love affair/ No more fighting, no more falling in and out of love again/ So let's say goodbye, so long and farewell, and just be friends').
Another ballad here is Is It Love?, a very slow but great song about the question how to judge your feelings ('Is it love, or just an optical illusion/ Is it real, or a blind state of confusion/ Is this a figment of my imagination, or is it love/ Is it love, or a mirage in my oasis/ Am I basking in the warmth of your embraces/ Could it be that I'm infatuated or is it love, true love').
Songs like All Day, All Night show Carmen in a more sensual mood ('You've got the body/ That needs a body/ A sexy body, as fine as wine/ So take my body and/ Let's get naughty/ Send those shivers down my spine') and corresponding to the lyrics All Day, All Night is a uptempo song.
One of my favourites is One More River To Cross that makes clever use of Langston Hughes poem The Negro Speaks Of Rivers (click here for lyrics of the poem).
Songs like the 10 minutes + (I Dream) In Living Color, Better Luck Next Time or Send Me Someone To Love really makes me ask why do most vocal-jazz musicans always rely on the wellknown standards instead of recording some original material like Carmen did this time. Don't miss this record because it's hard to get.