On the cover of Carmen Lundy’s latest release, Notes From the Wine Cellar, a stylized image of the singer peers out from an archway lined with corks. Lately, the veteran vocalist, composer and multi-instrumentalist has had reason to decant a few bottles in celebration: She was recognized as an NEA Jazz Master this year, and honored as part of the Mellon Foundation’s first ever Jazz Legacies Fellowship. These accolades stand as tribute to a singular body of work, saluting the original compositions Lundy has shared in performance and throughout a 40-plus-year discography. Notes From the Wine Cellar continues that streak, presenting a set of 10 songs from her pen. And while she’s mostly obscured in the cover image — which Lundy, an accomplished visual artist, designed herself — she holds nothing back on these highly personal musical reflections.
Starting with joyfully scatted vocals, “Thinking of You” expresses the sweet monomania of being helplessly in love and how it tends to dominate every waking moment. “I’ve got an obsession with everything you do,” Lundy sings to the object of her passion, sounding warm and relaxed and completely at ease with her preoccupation. That feeling is echoed in the simpatico backing of pianist Julius Rodriguez, guitarist Andrew Renfroe, bassist Jermaine Paul and trumpeter Tatiana Tate, who supply a retro soul-jazz/R&B sound that’s updated by drummer Terreon Gulley’s hip-hop-styled beat. Lundy and her bandmates will take part in the NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert on September 15 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
