Album Notes

Personnel: Lucy Smith, vocals; Marcin Fahmy, piano & keyboards; Jeff Hanley, acoustic & electric bass; Michael Caskey, drums & percussion; Grey Ward, alto sax; Marques Carroll, trumpet; Anthony Gravino, guitar; and Cheryl Corley, lead vocals, track #7.

REVIEWS

With a mature and confident voice, Lucy covers the spectrum -- offering jazz, blues and some funky R&B. Her arrangements are artful, the songwriting smart and there are some wonderful surprises. So listen and enjoy!

-- Richard Steele, Chicago Public Radio

Lucy Smith sounds as if she would be as comfortable playing to a packed House of Blues Crowd as she would to 12 people at The Green Mill (Chicago) on a Tuesday night. Her vocals maintain complexities while sounding effortless. Ms. Smith's quivering intonations on the gospel cover "Go Down Moses" provide emotive emphasis on the cry for freedom, while the percussions, trumpet and piano of her accompanying band punctuate the sentiment when Smith declares, "Let my people go." On "Kiela," her voice permeates the room through black speakers and enters the soul through aural osmosis. "Kiela" is funky without losing its jazz base, containing the right mix of instrumental experimentation and structural songwriting, thrusting a bebop breakdown between lyrics like: “an endless show of lives with many voices/She knows their days are made from simple choices. “ Well, Lucy made the right choices when she picked her backing band-they superbly accent her smooth voice.

-- Brian Murphy, Evanston Roundtable

The rich, deep, Lucy Smith sound seeps down in your soul and stirs it forward. Whether she's singing about love lost or newly found, she moves your heart to a warm “place in the sun.”

-- Shirley Jahad, journalist

BIO

I grew up in Chicago. Our living room had a wall covered, floor to ceiling, with mirrored tiles that reflected what was happening outside on Racine Avenue. A console stereo (encased speakers, turntable AND an AM/FM radio) sat in the corner of the room. I was in my own kinda heaven. I spent hours listening to and singing along with Josh White, Nina Simone, James Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Trini Lopez, Mariam Makeba, Eric Carmen, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and (yes) Barry Manilow. I’d sing and dance myself into a frenzy -- the mirrors ensuring my cool steps and the perfect positioning of my pen (or pencil) microphone. I wanted to be everyone I sang along with and go wherever they went...I still do.

Now I make my own music. I love to groove and make pretty sounds; to swing and close my eyes and listen to what’s around me. When I’m not singing, I’m an audience member…even when I’m on stage. I say…“right on!”… “awright now!” I smile and sometimes I even cry. Music is the boss of me.

I lead my own quartet…The Lucy Smith Quartet. I write poetry and music and enjoy rearranging what others have composed. I perform in and around the Chicago area: from nightclubs and neighborhood festivals to the grandest of private affairs. I encounter amazing musicians, teachers and fans – they sustain me.

If you'd like to read more, check out my website. Thanks.