Ginny Carr is the leader and founder of UPTOWN VOCAL JAZZ QUARTET, an internationally acclaimed vocal act that has performed on the Headliner stages of major international jazz festivals in France, Ottawa, Detroit, Clearwater (FL), and Miami, and has appeared in many other showcase jazz venues. The innovative vocal quartet and their rhythm section have opened for the Four Freshmen in concert and shared the jazz festival stages with such musical legends as Tony Bennett, Branford Marsalis, Nancy Wilson, Sonny Rollins, Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Four Freshmen, Mingus Big Band, Abbey Lincoln, Joey De Francesco, Chris Gotti, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, among others. They have been profiled on NPR, Jazz Smithsonian (with program host Al Jarreau), Radio Jazz Copenhagen, and Radio Buenos Aires, and written up in Asian music publications. Uptown Vocal Jazz Quartet has released two internationally acclaimed CDs which have received steady airplay worldwide and have sold several thousand copies.
As a solo artist, Ginny has been performing for many years as a singing pianist in Washington, DC and other East Coast cities. She has entertained political stars, Presidential candidates, and corporate VIPS, and has wowed patrons at piano lounges, jazz clubs, and other esteemed nightlife establishments in the Nation's Capital. Ginny compliments her versatile vocals (3 octaves' worth) with a playful self-accompaniment; her one-woman band sound is a seamless musical interplay that evokes a swinging big band fronted by a commanding singer, a tasty groove winding around a rock or blues wail, or an ethereal orchestral palette floating beneath a Cabaret torch singer's gutsy belt or captivating whisper. As an in-demand "double threat" performer, Ginny has anchored and fronted many independent jazz ensembles, joining forces with some of the world's best jazz musicians who make their home in Washington. A classically trained pianist and singer, Ginny has been both a featured performer and accompanist with symphony orchestras, pit orchestras, theatrical revues and shows, operas, big bands, variety bands, and Dixieland bands. She has also performed as a pit orchestra conductor, clarinetist, and choral ensemble soloist.
After writing many arrangements and original songs for Uptown Vocal Jazz Quartet, Ginny has evolved her songwriting talents to produce a CD consisting entirely of her own songs. "After All These Years", a showcase songbook of Ginny's originals, is her debut recording as a featured pianist/vocalist. It demonstrates her versatility as a musician, songwriter, and producer, with its smorgasbord of song styles, instrumental textures, and lyrical moods. The CD features a dazzling and varied array of musicians backing the singer/pianist, varying the texture and mood from track to track immensely.
"After All These Years" is a long-awaited personal songbook that represents a lifelong musician's reflections on her many musical influences and experiences; the result is a compelling collection of singable songs that have story, substance, sophistication, imagination, beauty and cleverness.
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