WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:03.919 I am so excited that Carmen Lundon has walked in 2 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:04.759 this studio. 3 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:06.519 I was just saying to her, seeing. 4 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:08.560 Each other, We've done this a few times of the 5 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:10.240 course of my career, and I considered it one of 6 00:00:10.279 --> 00:00:13.320 the signal honors of my career to have had the 7 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:15.279 opportunity on multiple occasions to. 8 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:17.679 Talk to Carmen Lunday. She's in studio right now. 9 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:20.679 She was named this year as a National Endowment for 10 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:22.199 the Art Jazz master. 11 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:25.519 As we say, that's high cotton. That is high cotton. 12 00:00:25.559 --> 00:00:28.519 So we're gonna celebrate Carmen Lundy in this hour now 13 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:31.000 that she's live in studio and discuss her new project 14 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:34.520 called Notes from the Wine Seller. Speaking of which, tell 15 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:37.240 me about this track, Carmen Lundy. 16 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:42.079 This is thinking of You tune that was written, believe 17 00:00:42.119 --> 00:00:44.399 it or not. This comes out of the wine cellar. 18 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:48.359 This was written back in the late seventies, early eighties, 19 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:52.399 and I could not put these ideas together to form 20 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:55.399 the kind of track that I could commit to. And 21 00:00:55.399 --> 00:00:58.479 it's tacond me. How many years ago was that? It 22 00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:01.240 second me all this time to feel good about it, 23 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:04.040 and I was writing, rewriting. I mean, this thing was 24 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:08.560 on the shelf for too long. So you know, this 25 00:01:08.599 --> 00:01:11.920 whole project has come into fruition. But it took a 26 00:01:11.959 --> 00:01:14.159 good three and a half four years to put these 27 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:17.680 tracks together. And I'm not exaggerating. Some of them were 28 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:20.120 written six months before we tracked, and some of them 29 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:25.359 are written years decades ago. Then I'm really really feeling 30 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:26.040 great about it. 31 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:27.920 Turn it up, Mouse, turning this stuff, trying it up. 32 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:45.120 Always, always, I'm gonna let this ride. 33 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:46.040 I'm gonna let it ride. 34 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:49.120 When we come forward, I'll start my my questions and 35 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:51.879 I got questions, she's got ANSWER's gonna be great conversation. 36 00:01:51.959 --> 00:01:53.239 But let this ride. Mouse. 37 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:57.159 You're listening to Carmen Lundy twenty six Any jazz master 38 00:01:57.680 --> 00:01:58.519 on Tavis. 39 00:01:58.200 --> 00:02:01.439 Spine to the Church on Top, it's Carmen Lunday. 40 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:04.640 She is the twenty twenty sixth National Endowment for the 41 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:09.960 Arts of Jazz Master, an iconic honor for an iconic career. 42 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:12.719 I am honored to have Carmen Lundy join us live 43 00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:14.599 in studio. The new project is called Notes from the 44 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:18.280 Wine selling You always get me when I hear a 45 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:21.680 Hammond B three. I grew up on a Pentecostal Apostolic 46 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:23.639 church we're gonna talk about that in your mama, we 47 00:02:23.759 --> 00:02:25.560 talk about that to say my dad, Yeah, your daddy, 48 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:26.360 we gonna go there. 49 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:28.879 You know I know that backstory, right, we're gonna talk 50 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:29.199 about that. 51 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:31.960 But let it ride mouse. When I hear B three, 52 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:34.520 you put me in any way, and I love the 53 00:02:34.599 --> 00:02:35.639 way this guy is playing. 54 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:37.120 But tell you about this track. 55 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:41.840 This track was probably the last track to find its 56 00:02:41.879 --> 00:02:46.039 way onto this project. And you know, my dad lived 57 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:47.840 and be ninety four years old. 58 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:49.759 That' said blessed ninety four. That's a blessing. 59 00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:52.439 And while my mother made sure I got those piano 60 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:56.120 lessons we were talking about, right, made sure that that 61 00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:58.599 you know, she made the clothes I said. When I 62 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:01.000 started my career, when I was all was sixteen years old, 63 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:05.479 my father was like, oh no, oh no, no, no, no, 64 00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:08.599 and no, and it ain't happening with me. 65 00:03:08.919 --> 00:03:11.240 So my father never never jumped on board. 66 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:14.879 It just never. It was the devil's music. I was like, Dad, 67 00:03:14.919 --> 00:03:18.479 the devil doesn't have music, don't you know that? And 68 00:03:18.680 --> 00:03:22.159 it's like it was my entire career and I wanted 69 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:25.639 my father's approval and let me know that he was 70 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.439 proud of his young little girl baby girl, you know 71 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:33.159 didn't happen. So here I am very close to getting this, 72 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:37.280 this record into the studio finally, and I had to 73 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:40.039 say goodby to him one last time, and I was 74 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:44.159 sitting there going, well, they kind of named me a 75 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:46.879 jazz master, dad, how does that feel? 76 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:49.479 Nothing? 77 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:55.879 So I needed to release I really I needed to 78 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:01.000 release that sadness that that I don't know, if disapproval, 79 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:03.960 I don't know what to call that sort of absolute 80 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:08.960 sense of a need that's not fulfilled by the one 81 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:13.120 person who's responsible, the two people the dad responsible for 82 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:18.879 my getting me here really, so it's interesting. Conversely, it 83 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.279 could be that the fact that he never came on 84 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:25.199 board is the reason why I stuck with it. Never know, 85 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:27.040 you see what I mean, you can just say what 86 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:29.199 the heck, but in Land it for you and just, 87 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:34.319 you know, just kind of drop out. But it worked 88 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:37.519 in the reverse for me. It just made me want 89 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:41.040 It just kind of gave me that other part of 90 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:45.399 the motivation that you really don't invite. But it really 91 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:50.839 did make a difference ultimately that I hung in there despite. 92 00:04:50.439 --> 00:04:53.120 That I didn't know we were going to go here. 93 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:54.920 But since we're here, we're gonna stay here for a second. 94 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:57.560 As we said in the Pentecostar church, we're gonna tarry 95 00:04:57.600 --> 00:04:59.639 here for a little bit. Let's just tear here for 96 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:01.560 a bit. I wanted to ask you, and I'll get 97 00:05:01.560 --> 00:05:03.079 your father in a second. I wanted to ask about 98 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:05.800 your mother anyway, because your mother sang with the Apostolic Singers. 99 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:08.439 My mother was the lead singer and the Apostolic Singers 100 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:13.319 of Parian, Florida. I'm originally from Miami, Florida, and as 101 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:16.639 a little girl, they would rehearse in the living room 102 00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:21.000 of my home for the you know, the best, the 103 00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:24.199 best choir in the church always opened up. I think 104 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:27.639 it was First Sundays. I think it was First Sundays. Yeah, 105 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:31.000 that Apostolic and we would just wear it out. Okay, 106 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:33.319 we'd be in church three hours behind those tunes. 107 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:33.600 Right. 108 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:37.639 But that group was modeled after the Caravans, oh yeah, 109 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:40.160 and the Albertino Walkers and the Shirley Caesars. 110 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:40.360 Right. 111 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:43.279 So my mother was that So as a child I 112 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:46.360 got to watch them rehearse if I behaved myself. And 113 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:50.279 her younger sister was the penist accompaniment for that, and 114 00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:53.600 she's still she was up in church somewhere in Lakeland, Florida, 115 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:56.639 Orlando last weekend. My aunt tells her she's still killing 116 00:05:56.680 --> 00:06:01.040 it and she was the B three. Okay, I'm many people. Okay, 117 00:06:01.079 --> 00:06:02.959 we're still in this church thing. How many people have 118 00:06:03.079 --> 00:06:06.920 you watched Saved Soul Saved behind this B three thing? Right? 119 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:09.360 So more than I can count. 120 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:16.360 So I'm really proud of that. Those are my earliest beginning. 121 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:19.240 Those are my earliest memories. Okay, the whole thing of 122 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:23.160 music lessons and studying and you know, going into formal education. 123 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:25.439 I had that as my foundation. 124 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:28.800 Okay, so my mother. 125 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:31.639 Actually there's a film called Nothing But the Blood that 126 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:36.800 I released and it won the Best Documentary Music Doctrinary 127 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:41.160 for the La Jazz Film Festival Downtown, LA Film Festival 128 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:42.480 three years ago. 129 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:45.600 I gotta find this, yes, and the documentary Nothing but 130 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:46.959 the Blood, is about specifically. 131 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:51.600 It's it's about the history of the Apostolic singers. Because 132 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:55.879 I looked up and I'm now maybe my second dated, 133 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:59.920 second decade into my career, and I started asking questions, 134 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:03.000 do you have film about and does anybody have a 135 00:07:03.079 --> 00:07:05.720 cassette of when you guys are ripping? 136 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:05.839 It? 137 00:07:06.360 --> 00:07:07.600 Is any of their music online? 138 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:09.240 No, that's what I'm trying to tell you. 139 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:11.040 I'm about to tell Miles to go find it right quick. 140 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:13.399 I wanted to hear it, but the film I kept 141 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.240 the film. The film is done, but I have not 142 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:17.079 uploaded it. 143 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:20.800 It's just a private link to my family on YouTube. Okay, 144 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:24.279 so it's not for the public consumption at there's point, 145 00:07:24.839 --> 00:07:27.639 but I can share that with you, Tavis. We're live, 146 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:30.480 and at some point, if we get the right distribution 147 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:33.279 of the right interest, everybody will know this story. But 148 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:37.920 it's just a story about the bond between all these 149 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:43.720 fine these you know, mothers of seven, ten, nine children. 150 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:46.399 How their story about how they got along and this 151 00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:50.680 racist American society as black women in the church. 152 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:51.399 Up in the church. 153 00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:53.720 And it's a beautiful story. And they tell their own stories. 154 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:54.639 It's a beautiful story. 155 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:56.680 Now I'm curious, this is getting good and we only 156 00:07:56.680 --> 00:07:58.720 need twenty men saying I'm glad you here for the 157 00:07:58.759 --> 00:08:04.319 whole hour. I am curious, being a Pentecostal Apostotics church 158 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:08.800 member myself, why highlt nothing but the blood. 159 00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:11.680 That was one of the songs I figured so that 160 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:15.800 they were recording, but had all these other connotations, you know, 161 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:20.839 the family and my grandparents own the family market and 162 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:25.720 it's Brian Florida Matthew's Groceries. So I come from that 163 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:30.639 family that was revered, you know, prominent. We fed the neighborhood. 164 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.200 My grandfather and his brother built all the homes and 165 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:37.399 all the businesses, and all of the siblings lived next 166 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:39.519 door to each other and around the corner. They built 167 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:42.200 the church three blocks down at the end. Reference church 168 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:44.559 three blocks at the end of the same block that 169 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:48.240 I you know. That's it. So all of that is 170 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:51.879 in this little movie, and it's a story about the 171 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:55.759 resilience really of the black community and how we can 172 00:08:55.879 --> 00:09:01.799 start with a seed and just roll into making a 173 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:05.840 huge impact on our communities in our society. Any a 174 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:09.559 jazz master, okay, but that starts from a little tiny 175 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:12.679 place somewhere in the most the deepest part of the 176 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:14.679 American South, which is Miami. 177 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:20.919 Myles, there's a Fred Hammond has a blood song medley. 178 00:09:21.559 --> 00:09:23.919 It starts without know it was the blood find Out 179 00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:26.279 medley for me, Me and Karmen. Carmen and me, that 180 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:29.799 should say me corammatically correct. Carmen and I I have 181 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:33.600 this conversation about the apostolic prenecoltural tradition. Now I want 182 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:36.000 to hear something. Tell me what you got it, Myles, 183 00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:38.159 I will just tell you got it. Give me something it, 184 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:39.440 give me somebody that give it to me. 185 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:05.679 Everybody listen, just in case you didn't know, here is 186 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:07.240 the main ingredient. 187 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:09.679 It really changed my life. 188 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:13.639 A life would have been equity and they're. 189 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:14.960 Already ply stayed. 190 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:18.879 But I found my hope. That girl they going from 191 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:22.919 the same day you had me. If I think it 192 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:26.440 a work, tell you I don't think, because I know 193 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:35.360 I know and say things like changing. Come with me 194 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:36.360 and I tell you. 195 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:48.840 That that's that's that's enough of it. That's that's that's 196 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:51.200 Fridge version of it. Everybody does it their own way. 197 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:56.519 But you got me thinking about the blood, Carmen, Uh, 198 00:10:57.000 --> 00:10:59.600 nothing but the blood. That's not how we sang it 199 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:02.279 didn't in our school to church. But I just want 200 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:05.320 to hear a little bit of that. So your father 201 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:08.720 and I was struck by your story about your father. 202 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:12.039 Let me tell you why, because I know something of 203 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:18.960 your story. I resemble your story when it comes to 204 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:23.720 being gifted in a particular way and the Apostolic Pentecostal 205 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:26.320 tradition telling you that what you are gifted at. 206 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:27.759 Is not what you ought to be doing. 207 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:32.159 Yes, I was discouraged from going to Harvard Law School 208 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:35.200 because I was told you can't be a lawyer and 209 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:35.720 go to heaven. 210 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:37.480 And I said, why not. 211 00:11:38.200 --> 00:11:41.360 It's because lawyers lie all the time, and if you lie, you. 212 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:44.799 Can't go to heaven. That was beat into me that 213 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:46.519 I could not be a lawyer. 214 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:47.480 I'm sorry. 215 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:53.240 My career's worked out, okay, don't get me wrong. And 216 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:55.279 I employed lawyers, a whole bunch of them, too many 217 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:58.720 of them, in my pocket everything. But the point is, 218 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:01.440 and I know others have these same stories of the 219 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:08.080 ways in which that Apostolic Pentecostual tradition shut them down 220 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:12.799 from getting on certain on ramps to to their life, 221 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:16.919 to their future, to their career. But your story hit 222 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:20.519 me because it says your daddy, it's your father telling 223 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:24.759 you that, m you should not pursue this. 224 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:28.159 And I heard the pain in your voice that your 225 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:30.399 whole life you've been you've been processing this. 226 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:33.279 Just tell me, tell me a bit more about that, 227 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:36.840 about that journey of of now being a jazz master. 228 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:38.600 But your daddy haven't told you a decades. 229 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:44.440 I want to say that I have a memory of Uh, 230 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:46.960 I'm the oldest of seven kids, so you know, you're 231 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:50.200 kind of stuck with watching the kids too. But there 232 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:52.440 was a piano in my home when I grew everybody 233 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:54.240 in my family had a piano in the house. 234 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:56.600 So what I would do is. 235 00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:59.720 Kind of hang and just be with the music, you know, 236 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:03.000 the turntable and plucking out these songs and teaching myself 237 00:13:03.080 --> 00:13:05.159 all the songs of the of the day, everything from 238 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:09.600 motown to Donnie Hadaway. So at some point there was 239 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:12.840 this tune that was really popular by the young Hold Unlimited, 240 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:16.240 and I plucked that melody out. So my father came 241 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:18.679 in from work one day and heard me doing this, 242 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:24.000 and he was really impressed with that. So from that 243 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.360 point on, he would bring his pals over and say 244 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:28.559 check it. You know, you send out and play that song. 245 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:30.440 You'll show them what you're doing, you know. So I 246 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:34.120 kind of loved it that he was encouraging me to, 247 00:13:34.120 --> 00:13:36.720 you know, to kind of show off my little talent, right, 248 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:40.720 But I think what happened was that was all really okay. 249 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:43.799 It was just that when I decided to pursue this 250 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:48.159 and to really make this my you know, to make money, 251 00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:51.679 to like do this for you know, my living. That's 252 00:13:51.720 --> 00:13:56.720 when things got a little squirrelly. So this is not 253 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:02.120 the kind of thing that you by then, let me 254 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:04.759 just say this. I was already sure that this is 255 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:06.120 what I was going to do with my life. 256 00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:07.799 Okay, so it was. 257 00:14:07.960 --> 00:14:11.840 It just became something that I really would have loved 258 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:15.679 to have that reinforcement. But it but I have a 259 00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:18.320 mother who compensated for. 260 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:20.360 That in ways that she leaned. 261 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:25.960 Oh my gosh. So for it just turns out that 262 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:29.879 I had the right combination of ingredients. I had great teachers, 263 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:35.080 and the opportunities presented themselves, and I was always and 264 00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:36.679 I was in love with the music. 265 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:37.120 By then. 266 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:38.879 There was nothing that was gonna take me away. 267 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:41.840 But everybody calm and wants to make their especially black folk. 268 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:44.519 We want to make our parents proud, yes, sir, make 269 00:14:44.600 --> 00:14:46.000 our mom and daddy prow yes. 270 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:48.600 And to be pursuing, to be pursuing something for all 271 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:49.279 those years that. 272 00:14:50.519 --> 00:14:53.159 Maybe I maybe he maybe he was proud. It just 273 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:55.960 didn't know how to say, because saying it would mean 274 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:58.120 he wouldn't make a to heavn or something. He actually 275 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:00.159 told me that he actually said he wouldn't go to 276 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:04.639 heaven okay. So I know that heaven is a beautiful place, 277 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:07.879 whatever that is, okay, And some of that just might 278 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:11.840 be somewhere in our space right now. Heaven could be 279 00:15:12.519 --> 00:15:14.720 you and I are sitting You're having this wonderful conversation 280 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:15.200 about it. 281 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:17.039 It is for me. It is for me. 282 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:24.600 So with all that being said, I want to thank them. 283 00:15:25.080 --> 00:15:27.480 I want to thank my parents. I want to think 284 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:33.399 the black community that nurtured me as a young person, 285 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:36.759 and I want to thank all those teachers. You know, 286 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:40.039 I went to. My elementary school was completely black. Okay. 287 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:44.120 I'm just saying that there's a community here too. And 288 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:47.639 my mother was the oldest of eleven, so that quote 289 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:53.240 unquote village or whatever. There are so many other influences. Sometimes, 290 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:58.080 even though your parents may be not so much of 291 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:02.799 the encouragement that you would like, there are other people 292 00:16:02.840 --> 00:16:05.799 and other experiences that offset that. And I'm happy for 293 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:06.320 that too. 294 00:16:06.519 --> 00:16:08.039 We were just talking the other day about the fact 295 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:10.559 that we are who we are because somebody loved us. 296 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:14.960 We are who we are because somebody loved us, and 297 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.000 that somebody is a large community for many of us, 298 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:23.080 even beyond our parents, or sometimes despite our parents, but 299 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:25.480 we are who we are because somebody loved us, and 300 00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:27.480 I hear that loud and clear in the story that 301 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:30.399 you are telling. Carmen Lundy is a twenty twenty six 302 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:31.559 National Endowment for the. 303 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:32.799 Arts Jazz Master. 304 00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:38.759 That's a high, high honor for a career that's been 305 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:43.320 nothing short of amazing. Vocalist, composer, educator, visual artist. I 306 00:16:43.399 --> 00:16:45.879 am honored to have with one more game in my 307 00:16:46.039 --> 00:16:49.000 presence for an amazing conversation. You've just heard the first 308 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:50.360 thirty minutes of it. If you missed any of it, 309 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:53.000 just tuning in. Check out the podcast of this conversation 310 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:54.120 when it's posted later tonight. 311 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:55.039 But we got a half hour to go. 312 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:57.480 I got more questions for Karmen Lundy're gonna play some 313 00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:00.879 more music from this new project called from the Wine Cellar. 314 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:02.480 We are blessed to have in the studio right now. 315 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:08.359 Carmen Lundy, he said, people tend to say that I'm 316 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:11.160 black and I'm proud, and he says, I'm black and 317 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:15.160 I can't help it. I'm black and I'm proudly said no, 318 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:17.279 I'm black and I can't help it. I thought about 319 00:17:17.319 --> 00:17:19.720 that when I heard this track the first time with 320 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:23.359 that lyric. If you were born another color. 321 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:25.000 Born another color. 322 00:17:25.720 --> 00:17:30.079 At this track, we'll see we're living with, We're living with, 323 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:39.039 We're in this cycle, citticism in the cycle that is 324 00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:42.640 being forced on us now out of. 325 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:48.119 Everybody knows what I'm talking about. But the answer to 326 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:50.680 this question, if you were born another color, what would 327 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:55.720 it be the same? That's my ans I would choose 328 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:56.119 the same. 329 00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:58.759 I would choose to say, all day, Lord. 330 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:02.480 That's not that's not one I've heard some you know sometimes, 331 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:06.880 and I think it was one of those tunes that 332 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:09.759 I can't remember. I was working on another song and 333 00:18:09.799 --> 00:18:11.759 I got to the end of the track they had 334 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:15.440 the you know, tape rolling, and it just came out 335 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:19.839 of maybe the frustration of the moment, maybe the absolute 336 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:24.759 disbelief that I could say, if you were born another gender, 337 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:26.920 you know, I could do you know, you could do 338 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:29.640 a lot of things with that. But I just don't 339 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:32.839 quite want to grasp what this problem is. And I 340 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:38.839 just wish somebody would answer the question why, why why 341 00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:44.680 this particular melon and content of the and Tony Marsha says, 342 00:18:44.759 --> 00:18:47.599 we're the human race. We are the human race, and 343 00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:51.880 everything else is a construct. So I'm addressing all of 344 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:52.960 that in this tune. 345 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:55.759 It's not like when God was passing our colors, people 346 00:18:55.799 --> 00:18:59.359 were volunteering for black. Nobody raised their hand to volunteer 347 00:18:59.400 --> 00:18:59.680 for radew. 348 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:02.400 You know, what, can I say something? I think I 349 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:04.759 would have raised my hand. I want that you give 350 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:05.039 me that. 351 00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:07.039 There you go. I'm not I'm not sure I would 352 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:07.839 have volunteered for it. 353 00:19:08.039 --> 00:19:10.839 But I tell you this, since I've been in this 354 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:13.279 skin for all these years, I wouldn't want to be 355 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:17.000 anything else, all all the struggles and turmoil and it 356 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:20.279 comes along with it, is nothing else I'd rather be than. 357 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:20.720 A black man. 358 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:22.920 Well, you know, when you listen to the notes from 359 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:27.680 the Wine Cellar as a collective project, it's not an 360 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:30.240 album that's you know, a bunch of love songs. Okay, 361 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:34.839 it's not an album. It's all about a political perspective. 362 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:40.200 This is a rendering of an artist saying of my time. 363 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:44.000 This is what is what I want to say about 364 00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:49.000 what life is like now, for this world we're in now. 365 00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:52.480 So I don't really have an interest in you know, 366 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:56.359 it's jazz singer, jazzing er, jazz master. There the history 367 00:19:56.480 --> 00:20:01.240 is there, the the time, the knowledge, the study, the 368 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:05.240 discipline of working at my craft. All of that's there, Okay, 369 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:08.119 But do I really need to remind and do I 370 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:09.880 really need to go back and dig up some old 371 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:11.880 songs for y'all to prove that I'm a jazz singer 372 00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:14.319 start scatting on something. I don't really feel like that 373 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:19.119 now as a jazz artist, I really want to want 374 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:23.279 the audience to know that I'm here with you now, 375 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:28.119 in this moment, and I'm not doing throwback. It's not 376 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:31.839 interesting to me now. It might have been, you know, 377 00:20:31.960 --> 00:20:34.359 that first couple of three records or something like that, 378 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:36.559 or maybe starting my career and feeling like it was 379 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:37.920 a way to get into the game. 380 00:20:38.359 --> 00:20:39.960 But you're sixteen records in now. 381 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:43.319 Yeah, sixteen seventeen, Okay, so. 382 00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:48.119 There we jumped in so fast. The voice that you 383 00:20:48.359 --> 00:20:52.000 are hearing is common Lundy. We just played the song, 384 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:54.839 went right into talking about it. It's common Lundy. She 385 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:57.000 is the twenty twenty sixth Nash and Diamind for the 386 00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:00.599 Arts Jazz Master. Her new project is called Notes from 387 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:02.680 the Wine Cellar. We've played three or four tracks, may 388 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:04.079 get another one or two in between. Now on the 389 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:05.920 top of the album, just giving you a taste of 390 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:08.400 the beauty and the brilliance. 391 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:11.079 Uh that is on this album. I was saying to 392 00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:14.640 Carmen her band, the band is tight. The band is. 393 00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:18.480 Bass players right here from from from from lem Park, 394 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:23.519 from Crenshaw, Jermaine Crinch, Jermaine Crenshaw, Jermaine paul Is on drum, 395 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:27.799 I'm on bass, okay. Julius Rodriguez. This young brother from 396 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:31.559 New York, he's all Julius wald Regaez. Now that sounds 397 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:33.839 like he's I don't think he speaks a word of Spanish, 398 00:21:35.559 --> 00:21:40.519 but he's a Haitian brother who is so gifted. Andrew 399 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:45.680 Renfro from the South on guitar, and Terry on gully 400 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:49.680 from East Saint Louis. I mean, this is like four players, 401 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:53.720