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Chicago's gift to the world of Vocal Jazz!
Multi-Grammy nominee Judy Roberts is an internationally-recognized jazz star thanks to the success of her recordings and concert performances. Throughout the jazz world, Judy is known for her fun-loving approach to a great repertoire, her hard-swinging piano playing, her lush and sensitive vocals, and her unique ability to communicate with her audience. The winner of numerous jazz polls and awards (including The Chicago Tribune’s “Chicago’s Favorite Jazz Woman”) and number one on both radio play and the Billboard charts, Judy’s CDs are a delight for all fans of fine music. Originally released by Inner City in 1980, this digitally-remastered CD is again available in the U.S.A.
Judy Roberts' trio of Inner City releases during 1979-81 gave her fame that has survived up to the present time. While the pianist-singer has continued evolving her high musicianship, joyful enthusiasm and willingness to stretch herself were very much in evidence from the start.
Ms. Roberts has been playing piano since she was two, but became a vocalist by accident. At a jazz gig when she was a senior in high school, a customer demanded that she sing a song, actually pulling out a gun. Since she knew the lyrics to quite a few songs, she consented and soon her singing was competing in popularity with her piano playing.
While she started out playing straight ahead jazz, and that is the type of music she most often plays today, in the late 1970s Judy Roberts was doubling on electric keyboards and creating her own kind of fusion music. On The Other World, she covers a wide span of music. Roberts is joined by guitarist Neal Seroka, bassist Michael Fiorino, drummer David Derge, and Tony Carpenter on congas and percussion.
Their set is full of surprises. It starts off with a Gino Vannelli pop song “The River Must Flow,” which might lead one to think that this is going to be a singer/songwriter-oriented set with very little of Roberts' keyboard playing. But after a spirited “The Other World,” she digs into “Last Tango In Paris” (a fine standard little performed during the past 20 years) and Seroka's “The Roadrunner,” an impressive feature for Roberts' scatting.
Her interpretation of the ballad “It's Always 4 A.M.” is heartfelt and touching. This funky recording of Horace Silver's “Senor Blues” was a hit during the era and features some excellent electric keyboard playing. The funky “No Turns,” Leon Russell's “Rainbow In Your Eyes” (which has heated keyboard and guitar solos plus Roberts scatting in unison with her keybaords) and a solo rendition of “'Round Midnight” concludes this consistently surprising yet unified outing.
Review
"These days Judy Roberts lives in Arizona with her husband tenor-saxophonist Greg Fishman, and they both perform on a regular basis in their old hometown Chicago. The genesis of their music can be heard on The Other World, an album that grows in interest with each listen.
"A delightful singer and pianist, Judy Roberts back during 1979-81 recorded three impressive and popular albums for the Inner City label. While these days she concentrates on straight ahead jazz, on her second Inner City album, The Other World, she performs a wide area of music. Gino Vannelli’s “The River Must Flow” opens the set in a singer/songwriter vein before Roberts explores such numbers as “The Other World,” “Last Tango In Paris” and a scat-filled version of “The Roadrunner.” Among the highpoints are a touching rendition of “It’s Always 4 A.M,” her hit version of Horace Silver’s “Senor Blues” and a solo “’Round Midnight.” -Scott Yanow
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