Judy Niemack
Vocalist - Lyricist - Recording Artist - Educator
"...one of the most versatile and provocative singers.....with a keen jazz sensitivity."
John. S. Wilson, New York Times
"She puts over a tune with passion and singular phrasing. She slaloms with streamlined precision through tricky be-bop lines and changes. She twists, turns, scats, leaps and bounds with Olympian grace....displaying admirable control, balance and understatement.....Classy."
G. Kalbacher, Hot House
"Exquisite intonation, tasteful interpretations and improvisations guided by a sensitivity for dynamics...."
Leslie Gourse, JazzTimes
"Her level of performance is extremely high......she endeavors both to get inside the lyrics and explore the chord structure, as do all true jazz singers."
Peter Gamble, Jazz Journal
"To my mind, Judy Niemack is one of the best, and purest jazz singers ever. Besides a voice with the clarity of a mountain stream, accuracy of pitch and time that is a wonder to hear, perfect diction and sensitivity to lyrics, she has a disciplined improvisational gift that makes her scat-sung lines music ....."
S. Chamberlain, L.A. Jazz Scene
"You need have no reservations about Judy Niemack, a young veteran of the New York club scene who epitomizes the term "jazz singer". Niemack's irrepresible swing, savvy scatting and dead-on intonation allow her to improvise solos that seem more horn than voice....her way with a lyric will warm the hearts of both romantics and musical adventurers as she tames tough jazz lines written for saxes, not singers.".
Neil Tesser, Playboy Jazz
"Judy has an inner sweetness to her voice....and a jazz edge. The combination is effective. She's musically sophisticated. She befriends the pulse and interacts with jazz musicians well. She draws from feelings and experiences, using melodies by jazz composers- some of them quite challenging- as her basis for creativity.........."
Burt Korall...International Musician
"This lady can really sing!"
Norman Simmons, pianist for Joe Williams, Carmen Mac Rae, Sarah Vaughan, etc.
"Niemack sings sprightly and thrillingly as an oriole, with a rich, firm tone and light vibrato.....(she) scats better then nearly everyone; she's really one with the band.."
Down Beat
"Judy Niemack digs deeply into the innards of the compositional body eclectic and makes no detectable missteps; She crosses her Rubicon with the grace and confidence of those who know just where the shallows are and, therefore, appear to walk on water....."
Alan Bargebuhr, Cadence
SONY JAZZ recording artist Judy NIEMACK is a real jazz singer. Singing lyrics with emotion and elegance, she is at the same time a consummate musician, using her voice to improvise like a virtuoso horn player. Having completed her classical studies as a coloratura soprano, she delved deeply into the mainstream jazz tradition, and has continually broken new ground in vocal jazz with original lyrics and a modern approach to standards. Judy has a dual career as performer and vocal jazz educator. In addition to having her eighth CD as a leader released on Sony Jazz in 2003, her book & CD “Hear It & Sing It! – Exploring Modal Jazz”, was published by Second Floor Music in July 2004.
Judy NIEMACK was born in Pasadena, California and began singing publicly at the age of 7. Throughout her school years, she sang in all types of vocal ensembles: madrigals, chamber choir, musical theatre productions, folk groups, rock bands, and eventually a vocal jazz quartet. When she was 17, singing Janis Joplin songs in a rock band, she realized that she needed training. Hoping to improve her technique, she began to study classical singing with a local teacher of "bel canto" who encouraged her to explore Opera. At 18, she heard and met the great tenor saxophonist Warne MARSH, and became fascinated by jazz and improvisation. She attended Pasadena City College, studying classical voice, and jazz improvisation with alto saxophonist Gary FOSTER. Continuing her classical studies for the next six years while continuing her jazz performances, she studied at New England Conservatory in Boston, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
With a trained voice and the desire to explore improvised music, Judy returned to California to study with Warne MARSH. Marsh taught her for six years as he would teach a horn player: to study music on a level that allowed her to improvise as an instrumentalist would. She learned to improvise with the voice as her instrument, using all the vocal colors that her classical training had given her.
In 1977, Ms. NIEMACK moved to New York City to pursue her career as a jazz vocalist. Her first major performance was a week at the Village Vanguard as part of the Warne MARSH Quintet in 1978. Her first recording, "By Heart", was released that year on Sea Breeze Records.
Since then she has performed in most of the major clubs in NYC, including The Blue Note, Sweet Basil, Fat Tuesday’s, The Village Gate, Visiones, Sweet Rhythm and The Rainbow Room. She’s toured the U.S.A. in concerts and festivals with major jazz orchestras, and performed with Peter DUCHIN at the WHITE HOUSE.
Judy is currently performing in jazz clubs, concerts and festivals in Europe and the United States. She now divides her time between Berlin, where she is heading the Jazz vocal department at the JAZZ INSTITUT BERLIN as Germany’s first Professor of Vocal Jazz, and New York City.
Some of the musicians she has performed with are: Toots THIELEMANS, David BYRNE, George BENSON, James MOODY, Lee KONITZ, Clark TERRY, Dave BRUBECK, Kenny BARRON, Billy HIGGINS, Cedar WALTON, Ray DRUMMOND, Joey BARON, Fred HERSCH, Billy HART, Kenny WERNER, Jim Mc NEELY, Joe LOVANO, Kirk NUROCK, Jiggs WHIGHAM , Peter HERBOLZHEIMER, WDR Big Band, Hessicher RUNDFUNK Big Band, David FRIEDMAN, Steve KUHN, Adam NUSSBAUM, Mark FELDMAN, Eddie GOMEZ, Kirk LIGHTSEY and the New York VOICES.
Ms. NIEMACK has written and recorded several of her own compositions (You’ve Taken Things too Far, Wondering, Ice White Blues), as well as original lyrics to many other musicians’ compositions, becoming an official lyricist for: Pat METHENY (It’s Just Talk), Thelonious MONK (Misterioso), Lee KONITZ (Round & Round & Round, Chick Came Around), Bill EVANS (Interplay), Clifford BROWN (Daahoud), Don GROLNICK (Talking To Myself), David FREIDMAN (Greenhouse Fables), Mike STERN (Choices), Larry SCHNEIDER (Tomato Kiss), Kirk NUROCK (Rain, Silence of My Soul, Moving On, Love Finds A Way), Jeanfrançois PRINS (New York Stories, Love Will Grow), Steve SLAGLE (Tudo Muda, Just For Now), Dan HAERLE (Darin Rae), Richie BEIRACH (Leaving), Richie POWELL (Time), Dexter GORDON (Mc Splivins, Soy Califa, Home Run), Gigi GRYCE (Minority), Elmo HOPE (Mirror Mind Rose, One for Kenny), Kenny DORHAM (Lotus Blossom), Curtis FULLER (Saggitarius, Playpen), Idrees SULLIMAN (Orange Blossom) and Bob BROOKMEYER (Hum).
Internationally, Ms. NIEMACK began by singing in ITALY at the PISA Jazz Festival in 1982 and has since appeared in AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, CANADA, CHILE, CHINA, DENMARK, ESTONIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, HOLLAND, ITALY, JAPAN, the PHILIPPINES, RUMANIA, SPAIN, ENGLAND and POLAND.
Recent performances include: "JAZZKAAR" Festival (ESTONIA), "Jazz sous les Pommiers", Avignon Jazz Festival, ALBI Jazz, Le Mans, Calvi Jazz Festival, Jazz A Cluny (FRANCE); Middleheim Jazz Festival, Concert with Toots Thielemans at the "Botanique" (BELGIUM); "Save Venice Ball" (ITALY); W.D.R. Big Band with Jim Mc NEELY, Hessicher Rundfunk Big Band, and RIAS Big Band, Touring with Peter HERBOLZHEIMER Rhythm Combination and Brass (GERMANY); Tours in JAPAN with Ronnie MATHEWS, Albert "TOOTIE" HEATH, and Ray DRUMMOND; NEW YORK’s BLUE NOTE, Village Vanguard, Sweet Rhythm , Jazz Standard; STANFORD Jazz Festival, Jazz Bakery, California.
Judy NIEMACK is one of the pioneers of vocal jazz education in Europe, becoming the first Professor of Vocal jazz both in Belgium and Germany, and giving master classes around the world. In the U.S.A., she taught vocal jazz at the New School for Jazz, (NYC) William PATTERSON University (N.J.), University of New York, Purchase (N.Y.), LONG ISLAND University and New York City College, and in 2005 presented her book, “Hear It and Sing It!” at the International Jazz Educators Convention in New York City.
International Workshops and Masterclasses:
FINLAND: SIBELIUS Academy of Music, Helsinki
POLAND: Summer Vocal Jazz Camp
BELGIUM: DWORP Summer Jazz Workshop, Royal Conservatory BRUSSELS, R.C. ANTWERPEN
GERMANY: BERLIN Hochschule Der Kunste, Hanns Eisler Music Conservatory, BundesJAZZ-Orchestra Big Band Vocals, MUNICH Prinzregenten Theater, INZIGHOVEN Vocal Jazz Week with NYVoices, MINDEN Vocal Jazz Workshop with Darmon Meader, LOERRACH “STIMMEN” Festival, etc.
HOLLAND: Conservatories in DEN HAAG, ROTTERDAM, HILVERSUM and ARNHEM.
DENMARK: COPENHAGEN Rhythmic Conservatory, AARHUS Jazz Program
ITALY: PISA Jazz Vocal Workshop
LONDON: JAZZWISE Summer Jazz Camp with JAMEY AEBERSOLD
1990-present: Janice Borla Vocal Jazz Camp, Naperville, ILLINOIS, every August.
September 1993- June 1995: First Teacher of Vocal Jazz: Royal Conservatory, Antwerp, Belgium,
Guest Professor at Royal Conservatory, Den Hague, Holland.
September 1994- June 1996: First Professor of Vocal Jazz in Belgium, Royal Conservatory, Brussels, Belgium.
Oct. 1995- present: First Professor of Vocal Jazz in Germany, Hanns Eisler Music Conservatory in Berlin, now Jazz Institut Berlin.
Sept. 2003-present: First Professor of Vocal Jazz, Musikene Conservatory in San Sebastian, Spain.
DISCOGRAPHY
As a leader:
"BY HEART" (feat. Warne MARSH, Eddie GOMEZ). SEABREEZE Rec. 1978
"BLUE BOP" (feat. Cedar WALTON, Curtis FULLER, Ray DRUMMOND, Joey BARON). FREELANCE Rec. 1988
"LONG AS YOU'RE LIVING" (feat. Joe LOVANO, Fred HERSCH, Billy HART). FREELANCE Rec. 1990
"HEART'S DESIRE" duet with Kenny BARRON. STASH Rec. 1991
"STRAIGHT UP" (feat. Toots THIELEMANS, Kenny WERNER, Adam NUSSBAUM, Mark FELDMAN, Jeanfrançois PRINS). FREELANCE Rec. 1993
"MINGUS, MONK AND MAL" duet with Mal WALDRON. FREELANCE Rec1994
“... NIGHT AND THE MUSIC...” (feat. Jeanfrançois PRINS, Kenny WERNER, Ray DRUMMOND, Billy HART, Eric FRIEDLANDER). FREELANCE Rec 1996
“ABOUT TIME” (feat. Eddie GOMEZ, Jeanfrançois PRINS, Lee KONITZ, David FRIEDMAN, CAFE). SONY JAZZ, 2003.
“WHAT’S GOING ON?” (feat. Peter HERBOLZHEIMER & Big Band Jazz Terrassa), TEMPS RECORD, 2005
Books:
“HEAR IT AND SING IT! EXPLORING MODAL JAZZ”, (Second Floor Music, Dist. Hal Leonard, 2003)
As a guest (selected discography):
"BEAUTY AND THE PRINCE" with Jeanfrançois PRINS (featuring Fred HERSCH, Hein van de GEYN, Bruno
CASTELLUCCI). AMC 1993
"RHAPSODY" vol 1 and 2 with Lee KONITZ. PADDLE WHEEL 1993
"THE OTHER SIDE OF WALTER BOEYKENS" Distr. by SONY 1994
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