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Today Judy Roberts is a well respected pianist and singer who mostly performs her fresh and enthusiastic versions of standards. But back in the late 1970s when she recorded three albums for the Inner City label, she was performing originals, pop tunes and occasional standards while playing electric keyboards, showing that there was plenty of life and fun to be found in funky and fusion jazz.
The daughter of a swing era guitarist-arranger, Judy Roberts grew up hearing top jazz albums. She began playing piano when she was two and often played duets with her father. She was not a vocalist until she was a high school senior and a customer at a gig demanded that she sing. Because she had a very attractive voice and knew hundreds of songs, it was relatively easy for her to make the transition towards becoming a singing pianist.
Roberts recorded with the great Ray Brown when she was a teenager in the 1960s and played gigs throughout the 1970s in her native Chicago. But it was when she recorded her trio of Inner City albums during 1979-81 that she gained her initial fame.
The Judy Roberts Band, as heard on this 1979 recording, consists of Roberts on vocals, electric piano, clavinet, Omni and occasional acoustic piano, guitarist Neal Seroka (who is still active today and recently played a duet concert on bass with Roberts), bassist Sean Silverman, drummer Phil Gratteau, and Tony Carpenter on congas and percussion. They perform four group originals (two by Roberts), a couple of pop tunes, and Charles Mingus' “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.”
But actually the origin of each song does not matter much. More important is that the quintet has an appealing ensemble sound, Seroka contributes some purposeful and concise guitar solos, and the group does an excellent job of accompanying the leader.
Review
"Judy Roberts displays a wide vocal range (listen to her high notes on “You Light Up My Life”), swings on the electric piano as if it were an acoustic, utilizes the clavinet and the other keyboards for color and atmosphere, and sounds quite joyful when she sings. She is a very potent force throughout this early recording, as she is when she performs today.
"A greatly respected pianist and singer, Judy Roberts recorded a trio of fine albums for the Inner City label at the beginning of her career. While she generally jams happily on bebop standards today, back in the late 1970s she was performing originals and pop tunes, along with standards, often on electric keyboards. For her debut recording, cut in 1979, Ms. Roberts is featured with guitarist Neal Seroka, bassist Sean Silverman, drummer Phil Gratteau and percussionist Tony Carpenter, playing a wide variety of superior material and showing that she was a potent musical force from the beginning" -Scott Yanow
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