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Judy Chamberlain

 
Artist: Judy Chamberlain
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists
  • Born: September 26, 1944, New York, NY
  • Active: '90s, 2000s
  • Genres: Jazz
  • Instrument: Vocals Representative Album: "Road Trip"

Biography

Imagine starting a song without counting off the tempo or even telling one's sidemen the name of the tune. Jazz singer/bandleader Judy Chamberlain, who has mastered the art of mesmerizing both the audience and her own band, does that regularly with her group without a moment's hesitation. The results are both spontaneous and memorable.

A New York City native who spent her childhood shuttling between homes in Manhattan and Connecticut, Chamberlain has had careers along the way as a radio/TV commentator and lifestyle columnist but always sang, becoming a professional when she was 13. After moving to southern California in 1980, she established herself as a popular performer whose 4,000-song repertoire ranges from the Great American Songbook to swing and vintage rock & roll. She also oversees the extensive jazz program at the famed Spazio in Los Angeles, produces a noteworthy annual summer concert series in the courtyard of the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, and serves as artistic director for the KKJZ Los Angeles International Jazz Festival.

Judy Chamberlain, who maintains a busy performance schedule putting on critically acclaimed and highly entertaining shows including her own unique "Swinging Jazz Salute to Frank Sinatra," has thus far recorded one CD, Road Trip. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Judy Chamberlain
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Judy Chamberlain

Jazz singer Judy Chamberlain in 2008.
Background information
Born September 26, 1944(1944-09-26)
New York, New York
Genre(s) Vocal Jazz, Swing, Big Band, Traditional Pop
Occupation(s) Vocalist, Jazz Singer, Bandleader, Columnist
Instrument(s) Vocal
Years active 1957 - Present
Label(s) JazzBaby Records
Associated acts Swing Deluxe, Al Viola
Website http://www.judychamberlain.com

Judy Chamberlain (born September 26, 1944 in New York, NY), is an American jazz singer, bandleader and journalist known for her spontaneity, lively performance style and extensive repertoire, estimated to include several thousand songs from the Great American Songbook[1]. An exciting entertainer, she has "mastered the art of mesmerizing both the audience and her own band," according to Jazz Critic's Scott Yanow's review of her in the All Music Guide to Jazz.

The Los Angeles Times Jazz Critic Don Heckman has called Judy, "remarkably eclectic and versatile... always an intriguing interpreter of the standards" and has written that she is "almost guaranteed to know your favorite love song, no matter how obscure." [2]

Growing up in a New York City entertainment family, Chamberlain was taken regularly to the Plaza Hotel, the Stork Club, Sardi's and the hole-in-the wall jazz clubs of West 52nd Street. One night, she heard Mabel Mercer singing Cole Porter tunes — with Cole Porter in the room. "I was just a little kid, but I was hooked," she says. "Those lyrics were great. I had no idea what they meant, but I knew I loved them." She started singing professionally at age 13, focused on the swing idiom and with a strong desire not to let anyone turn her into "the next Theresa Brewer."

Following a move to Los Angeles, California in 1980, Chamberlain wrote lifestyle columns and restaurant reviews for the Orange Coast Daily Pilot in Costa Mesa and was soon tapped to write society and op-edcolumns for the paper. She reviewed restaurants for the Torrance, CA Daily Breeze, the Los Angeles Times Calendar Live and Cox Interactive Media's LAInsider.com, hosted "Dining With Judy" on K-OCEAN 103.1 FM in Newport Beach and "Savoire Fare" on the Orange County News Channel.

Chamberlain has performed with her band in numerous concert settings and jazz clubs on the West Coast and serves as artistic director for the nationally acclaimed Spazio Jazz Supper Club in Sherman Oaks.

In 2005, Chamberlain fronted a ten-piece band with guitarist Al Viola for a "Jazz Salute to Frank Sinatra" in Hollywood.

She has performed in the famed Playboy Jazz Festival and appeared on E! Entertainment, The Style Network and ABC’s “The Bachelor.”

As a bandleader and entertainer, she has been compared to Miles Davis, who — like Chamberlain — never told the band what he was going to do until he did it.

Chamberlain has released one CD, the 2002 "Road Trip" on JazzBaby Records, a compilation of some of her favorite standards.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ Yanow, Scott. "Judy Chamberlain Review." Allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-08-05
  2. ^ Heckman, Don. "Critic's Choice." The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2008-08-05
  3. ^ Chamberlain, Judy. "About Judy". Retrieved on 2008-08-05

External links

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Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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