Saturday, November 22, 2014

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Judy Wexler

Artist:Judy Wexler
Song:Wonderful Wonderful
Album:Under A Painted Sky




Jazz singer Judy Wexler works mostly on the west coast. She grew up in Los Angeles listening to her father's record collection. She took piano lessons and got into theater as a teen. She studied theater and classical piano at University of California Santa Cruz. After graduating, she moved to San Francisco to work in theater. She met her future husband and he was a big jazz fan so they started going to the Keystone and other local jazz clubs. She did some acting when they moved to Los Angeles. But she also studied jazz at Dick Grove Music School. Judy recorded her debut CD Easy On The Heart in 2005 and that earned her a record deal with Jazzed Media. Her 2008 CD Dreams & Shadows did well on the jazz charts. She records mostly standards. Wonderful Wonderful is from her 2011 CD Under A Painted Sky. Wonderful Wonderful was written by Brill Building songwriters Sherman Edwards and Ben Raleigh and it was a big hit for Johnny Mathis in 1957. It's not a song I see covered much by jazz musicians so that makes Judy's recording interesting. The pianist and arranger is Alan Pasqua who has been playing sessions since the 70s with Tony Williams, Carlos Santana and Bob Dylan and many others. The alto sax solo is by Bob Sheppard who has worked with Chick Corea, Billy Childs and many others. Other musicians include Walt Fowler on trumpet, Bob Mintzer on tenor sax, Larry Koonse on guitar, Darek Oles on bass, Steve Hass on drums and Alex Acuna on percussion. Jazz vocal fans should check out the CD. Judy's latest CD What I See was released on Apr. 2013. She has a new arranger Jeff Colella who also works with singer Sylvia Brooks. Here's a video for Wonderful Wonderful by Judy Wexler.

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