By Steve Siegel Special to The Morning Call
They say that with stride piano, all the work is done by the left hand. Yet watching Grammy-nominated jazz pianist/vocalist Judy Carmichael hit her groove at the Musikfest Café Jazz Brunch on Sunday at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks,it’s obvious the entire body gets a workout.
Carmichael all was poetry in motion during this RiverJazz festival event,performing this lively, happy style that instantly evokes bustling dance halls, honky tonk bars, fast women and sloe gin. Sure, her left hand worked hard, alternating between the bass notes and chords in the walking motion that gives the genre its name. But while that was happening, her right hand was pouncing out the melody, her left foot tapping the rhythm, her right foot tapping the pedals. It was impossible for anyone watching to keep still.
While Carmichael, wearing a sexy red slip of a dress and leopard-pattern heels, was the center of attraction, she was not the only star in the show. Joining her was tenor/alto saxman Harry Allen, blowing a horn as smooth and creamy as the jambalaya featured on the menu, and guitarist Chris Flory, whose fiery fretwork conjured the classic style and timing of Charlie Christian.
Stride piano was the dominant jazz piano style from about 1917 through the mid 1920s, and Fats Waller was one of its biggest proponents. So Carmichael naturally featured some classic Waller tunes, such as a bouncing “Christopher Columbus” and “Handful of Keys,” possibly his most famous, here done as a piano/guitar duet. Carmichael, in the spirit of Waller himself, would often urge her cohorts on with shouts of “Take it, Harry!” or “Chris, it’s yours.”
But it wasn’t all stride.Carmichael mixed in swing and smooth jazz as well, with cool, slow ballads like “Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good to You,” and sultry vocals such as “Where All the Cats Join In.” She revealed a breathy, silky voice with considerable depth, sounding a lot like a modern-day Peggy Lee in its warmth and sincerity. There’s even some resemblance, in her golden head of curls.
Carmichael could be funny too. Noticing one of the chefs behind the griddle bopping to the beat, she commented “Now when even the omelet guy is dancing, you know you’ve done good!”
Similar Posts:
- How to look smart and stylish in London
- CD Review: Sunspots’ Self-Titled Debut
- Live ‘Glee’ concert tour coming to Philly, New Jersey
- Emma Watson: I’ll return to Brown next year (AP)
- Final ‘Harry Potter’ Opens to $168 Million at Box Office
no comment untill now