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Voices in Flight

Jay Clayton

Label: GAM Records
Released: 2023
Views: 471

Tracks

Questions and Answers (Play Pen); Ditto; With You (Orange Blossoms) - Body and Soul; You (Hum); Beloved; Beginner; Looking Back (Reflections); Soaring (Lotus Blossom); Haperchance; Eagle Poem; He's A Man (Sagittarius); Like Water Off A Stray Dog; Badadadat; Wondering.

Personnel

Jay Clayton

vocals

Judy Niemack

vocals

Jay Anderson

bass

Jeanfrancois Prins

guitar

John di Martino

piano

Album Description

New York City is the center of many worlds, the jazz world being one of them, and musicians have always felt the pull of the Big Apple. In 1977, California-born vocalist Judy Niemack’s improvisation teacher, saxophonist Warne Marsh, told her to move there if she wanted to be a jazz singer, and once she did, she never looked back. Niemack’s experiences in New York shaped her career and life, and by the early 80’s she realized her dream—to be professional jazz singer. However, in order to have a career as a jazz singer, it was necessary to perform abroad, and this led to her move to Europe in 1992, where she resided in Brussels and later in Berlin, teaching vocal jazz and performing.

The album “Voices In Flight" is the result of her collaboration with veteran vocalist Jay Clayton, a brilliant and highly influential improviser and teacher. Judy and Jay met in the late 1970s on New York City's vibrant music scene. At the time, Jay was performing avant-garde and experimental music in the jazz lofts and Judy had just arrived from California, making her debut at the Village Vanguard with Warne Marsh. Judy was on the lookout for inspired vocal improvisers and Jay fit the bill— a singer with her own sound, a free approach to improvising and an authentic way with a story. Over the years their friendship grew deeper and they became a source of inspiration for each other.