About Judy Carmichael
“Judy Carmichael is a great entertainer. Her playing is masterly and her linking material show her to be a raconteur in the Ustinov mold.” ~ BBC Radio
“Judy is a one-woman force for good; more to the point, she’s a player of extraordinary accomplishment who has made stride piano relevant again.” ~ London Times
“ . . . astounding, flawless, captivating.” ~ NY Times
“A combination of Fats Waller and Peggy Lee,” Grammy-nominated pianist Judy Carmichael is one of the world’s leading interpreters of stride piano and swing. Count Basie nicknamed her “Stride,” acknowledging the command she has playing this technically and physically demanding jazz piano style. Judy’s CD “I Love Being Here With You” is her first all-vocal CD, which explores her love of witty lyrics, juicy ballads and Broadway Standards.
America’s Jazz Times Magazine says: Judy Carmichael exhibits a truly remarkable ability to channel Peggy Lee’s breathy invitingness and her befogged insouciance. [She also] echoes the intense perspicacity of the solo albums of Annie Ross. In other words, she winningly blends two of the all-time finest, most intuitive jazz singers.
Judy has played the major concert halls and festivals around the world from Carnegie Hall to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice (the first concert ever presented by the museum) to programs with Leslie Garrett, Joel Grey, Michael Feinstein, Steve Ross, and the Smothers Brothers. In addition, she has done comic skits and performed her music on radio and TV (Jo Soares in Brazi and Entertainment Tonight in the U.S. among others) and performed private recitals for everyone from Rod Stewart and Robert Redford to President Clinton and Gianni Agnelli.
She has appeared frequently on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, Entertainment Tonight, CBS’ Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt and with Charles Osgood, Mornings With Margaret Throsby for the Australia Broadcast Corporation and the BBC’s Loose Ends and Woman’s Hour and numerous other shows. 2016 marks the 17th anniversary of Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired, the popular Podcast, SiriusXM and Public Radio Show. Judy produces and hosts the show talking with everyone from Tony Bennett to Seth MacFarlane about their love of jazz and how it inspires them.
Judy’s Grammy-nominated recording Two Handed Stride teamed her with four giants of jazz, bassist Red Callender, drummer Harold Jones, guitarist Freddie Green and saxophonist Marshall Royal. She has written two books on stride piano and numerous articles on the subject of jazz, served on a variety of music panels at the National Endowment for the Arts, spoken before the Presidentially appointed National Council on the Arts advocating for individual fellowship grants, and is one of the few jazz pianists honored as a Steinway Artist.