- The … Read Full Bio ↴“In a world of pretenders, Carmen Lundy is a genuine Jazz Singer”
- The Evening Standard
Carmen Lundy began her professional career in Miami, FL as a jazz vocalist and composer when there were very few young, gifted and aspiring jazz vocalists on the horizon. Over four decades later, Ms. Lundy is celebrated throughout the world for her vocal artistry and is highly regarded for her jazz innovation.
Currently on the Afrasia Productions label, Carmen is releasing her 14th album in the Fall of 2014. Almost two years in the making, “Soul To Soul” consists of new original songs by Lundy, and a few very special collaborations. The album features legendary artists - specialists on their respective instruments - including Patrice Rushen, Geri Allen, Randy Brecker, Ada Rovatti, Warren Wolf, Bennie Maupin, harpist Carol Robbins, and Simphiwe Dana, a stunning South African vocalist and composer, among others.
The highly regarded 2012 release “Changes” (Afrasia Productions) is on several ‘Top 10 Albums of 2012’ lists, and continues to garner both critical and popular acclaim. Said James Nadal of All About Jazz, “With her release of Changes, veteran singer Carmen Lundy rises to that proverbial summit to enjoy the rarefied air of the chosen few.”
Terri Lyne Carrington’s Mosaic Project - Grammy Winner for Best Jazz Vocal Album of 2011- features the Carmen Lundy composition “Show Me A Sign”, with Ms. Lundy’s original performance from the album “Solamente” reinvented on the arrangement.
Carmen has had several Top Ten albums on JazzWeek (“Jazz and the New Songbook-Live at The Madrid”, “Come Home”, and “Changes”) and a #3 spot on Billboard’s Jazz Chart for 23 weeks with her debut album “Good Morning Kiss”. Among her other awards and recognitions, especially rewarding was Miami-Dade's County Office of the Mayor and Board of County Commissioners proclaiming January 25th "Carmen Lundy Day”, along with handing Ms. Lundy the keys to the City of Miami.
Having recorded more than thirteen albums as a leader, Carmen’s far-reaching discography also includes performances and recordings with such musicians as brother and bassist Curtis Lundy, Ray Barretto, Kenny Barron, Bruce Hornsby, Mulgrew Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kip Hanrahan, Courtney Pine, Roy Hargrove, Jimmy Cobb, Ron Carter, Marian McPartland, Regina Carter, Steve Turre, Geri Allen, Robert Glasper, Patrice Rushen and the late Kenny Kirkland. Ms. Lundy’s 2005 release, the hugely successful “Jazz and The New Songbook-Live at The Madrid”, features some of the jazz world’s best known musicians paying tribute to Ms. Lundy.
Carmen Lundy’s work as a vocalist and composer has been critically acclaimed by The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Times, Variety, The Washington Post, Jazz Times, Jazziz, Downbeat and Vanity Fair among many others, as well as numerous foreign publications.
Christopher Loudon of Jazz Times writes “Carmen Lundy, as beautiful inside as out, has accomplished the near impossible for a jazz singer by maintaining a solid, successful, three-decade career while focusing largely on original, self-penned material.” And Don Heckman of The Los Angeles Times – “Lundy’s performance was the product of talent that has ripened fully. Her far-ranging, fluidly mobile voice roved through and around the melodies, and her innate sense of theatricality illuminated every layer of drama in her story-driven songs.”
As a composer, Ms. Lundy’s catalogue numbers over 100 published songs, one of the few jazz vocalists in history to accomplish such a distinction, and has led to the first publication of the Carmen Lundy Songbook (2007). Her songs have been recorded by such artists as Kenny Barron ("Quiet Times"), Ernie Watts ("At The End Of My Rope"), and Straight Ahead ("Never Gonna Let You Go"). Officially endorsed by Neumann microphones, Carmen Lundy continues to compose and expand her vast catalogue.
Her own recordings consist of 1985’s “Good Morning Kiss” (CLR/Afrasia Productions), “Moment To Moment” (Arabesque/Afrasia Productions), “Night And Day” (CBS/SONY and re-issued by Afrasia in 2011), “Old Devil Moon” (JVC), “Self Portrait” (JVC), “Something To Believe In” and “This Is Carmen Lundy” (both for Justin Time), “Jazz and The New Songbook – Live at The Madrid” (2-disc set and DVD, Afrasia Productions), “Come Home” (Afrasia), “Solamente” and the 2012 release “Changes” (Afrasia Productions). Her newest recording “Soul To Soul” is almost 2 years in the making, and will be released in the Fall of 2014 on Afrasia Productions.
www.carmenlundy.com
It Might As Well Be Spring
Carmen Lundy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a string
I'd say that I had spring fever
But I know it isn't spring
I am starry-eyed and vaguely discontented
Like a nightingale without a song to sing
Oh, why should I have Spring fever
I keep wishing I were somewhere else
Walking down a strange new street
Hearing words that I have never heard
From a girl I've yet to meet
I'm as busy as a spider spinning daydreams
I'm as giddy as a baby on a swing
I haven't seen a crocus or a rosebud or a robin on the wing
But I feel so gay in a melancholy way
That it might as well be spring
It might as well be spring
The first stanza of Carmen Lundy's song "It Might as Well Be Spring" describes the singer's restless and fidgety state. In comparing herself to a willow tree in a windstorm and a puppet on a string, she's emphasizing the overwhelming feeling of being out of control, as though she's constantly being buffeted around by the world. The use of the metaphor of spring fever is ambiguous - on the one hand, it's a state of restlessness that's commonly associated with the season, but on the other hand, she knows that it isn't even spring, which suggests that her problems may be deeper-rooted and not just a surface-level desire to enjoy the good weather. This tonal ambiguity is further emphasized by the "starry-eyed and vaguely discontented" description of the singer - she's both awestruck by the world around her and overwhelmed by the sense of dissatisfaction that comes along with it.
The second stanza explores the sense of ennui in even greater detail. The comparison to a nightingale without a song to sing is a poignant one - a bird famed for its beautiful voice is suddenly silenced, emphasizing the idea that the singer could have a lot to say, but is unsure how to express it. Again, the use of spring imagery implies that the sense of malaise is not a momentary feeling but something more long-lasting - the bird needs to find its song again, but even though the singer is "gay in a melancholy way," spring isn't enough to bring it out.
The final stanza brings together all of the song's themes - the restlessness, the vague dissatisfaction, and the desire for something new and exciting. The singer wants to be somewhere else, walking down a strange new street, hearing words she's never heard before - she wants to experience something truly fresh and unexplored. The mention of the crocus, rosebud, and robin is interesting too - while these are things that are typically associated with spring, they're also small signs of renewal and regrowth. The fact that the singer hasn't seen any of them suggests that, for her, the sense of stagnation is all-encompassing - there's nothing new or hopeful to cling onto. The final line - "it might as well be spring" - is the ultimate expression of this sense of longing, suggesting that even though it's not technically the season, the need for something new and exciting is so strong that it doesn't even matter.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm
I am feeling anxious and uneasy, just like how a willow tree would feel in a windy storm
I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a string
I am feeling nervous and bouncing around uncontrollably, like a puppet that's being pulled around by a string
I'd say that I had spring fever
But I know it isn't spring
Although I have the symptoms of spring fever, which is restlessness and discontentment, I know that it's not actually spring season
I am starry-eyed and vaguely discontented
Like a nightingale without a song to sing
I am filled with an unexplainable feeling of dissatisfied longing, much like a nightingale that's unable to find its song
Oh, why should I have Spring fever
When it isn't even spring?
I am confused as to why I'm feeling this way, as spring season hasn't even arrived yet
I keep wishing I were somewhere else
Walking down a strange new street
Hearing words that I have never heard
From a girl I've yet to meet
I keep daydreaming about being in a new place, walking down unfamiliar streets, and having conversations with a girl I've never met before
I'm as busy as a spider spinning daydreams
I'm as giddy as a baby on a swing
I haven't seen a crocus or a rosebud or a robin on the wing
I am very occupied with my daydreaming, just like how a spider is busy spinning its web. I feel giddy, much like a baby on a swing, and I haven't seen any signs of spring blooming yet, such as crocuses, rosebuds or robins
But I feel so gay in a melancholy way
That it might as well be spring
Although my emotions are sad, I still feel unexplainably cheerful, as if it were spring season already
It might as well be spring
My feelings are so intense and resembling that of spring fever, that it might as well be spring season already
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Tratore
Written by: Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind