After hoping to record for several years, Peter, Sullivan and I agreed to go into the studio following Peter's gig at the Village Vanguard, (where I'd made my debut on the NYC jazz scene back in 1978). Peter invited me to join the band onstage but New York City locked down that night. // We finally met again more than a year later at the historic Van Gelder studio, now owned and run by my dear friends, Maureen and Don Sickler. With excitement we hugged for the first time in way too long. // The happiness of seeing each other in person again as well as making music together in the legendary studio lifted everybody up. In two days we recorded 13 songs! // My heartfelt thanks to Peter, Sullivan, Doug and Joe for your focused, soulful music-making, to Maureen for her masterful engineering and patience, and to Don, for advising, managing, and producing. Chris Drukker captured the mood perfectly, always supportive. Thanks Katsuhiko for final mixing and mastering.
2018 release. Judy Niemack's experiences, and friendships created in New York have shaped her career and life. One of the most important friendships turned out to be that of the great pianist, composer and arranger Jim McNeely. Niemack's new recording with McNeely, New York Stories, shows the depth of their musical and personal affinity as they present pieces they arranged together over the years, and, finally, have recorded together, along with the Danish Radio Big Band.
2017 release. "I first heard Dan Tepfer when he performed in a duo concert with Lee Konitz in Berlin, Germany. I was introduced to Lee when I arrived in New York in the late 70's by my improvisation teacher, saxophonist Warne Marsh, and we eventually performed and recorded together. Lee often invites me to join him onstage when I'm in the audience at his concerts, which is always exciting. He's a master of simultaneous improvisation, where musicians react to each other spontaneously without either losing their grip on the form or falling into the traditional roles of accompanist and soloist. I joined them for a song and the interplay was magical.//In the Spring of 2012, Dan was back in Berlin, perfecting his Tango dancing and playing with various musicians. We met and rehearsed at the Jazz Institut Berlin, jamming on some songs we knew. Once I was back in New York, I invited Dan to spend a day recording at Acoustic Sound in Brooklyn. This recording is the result, not a typical vocalist-pianist duo, but two musicians interpreting and improvising in a relaxed, collaborative session."
