Biography

A virtuosic jazz singer and educator, Judy Niemack is recognized for her deeply lyrical style and harmonically adept vocalese technique. Mentored by Warne Marsh, Niemack emerged in the '70s with her debut LP By Heart. She also paired with Cedar Walton for 1989's Blue-Bop and released a string of standards albums, including 1996's Night and the Music, 2003's About Time, 2007's Blue Nights, and 2017's Listening to You. Though a regular presence on the New York scene, Niemack has spent decades living in Europe where she has taught jazz singing as a professor at Jazz Institut Berlin and the Basque School of Higher Music in Spain. In 2022, she was joined by guest saxophonist Eric Alexander on What's Love. Born in 1954 in Pasadena, California, Niemack grew up in a musical family and first began singing in her church choir. By her teens, she was already a gifted vocalist, studying bel canto with Primo Lino Puccinelli. After high school, she pursued classical voice and jazz improvisation studies at Pasadena City College, and later attended the New England Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 1975, she returned to California where she studied jazz with Warne Marsh. It was with Marsh's group that she made her New York debut at the Village Vanguard in 1977. Basing herself in N.Y.C., she released her debut album, By Heart, the following year. Although she gigged regularly, Niemack waited several years to record another full-length, with Blue-Bop arriving in 1989. The album found her backed by pianist Cedar Walton, whose songs "Bolivia," "Dizzy Atmosphere," and "Moanin'" she covered. The effort also featured a guest appearance by trombonist Curtis Fuller. More albums followed in the '90s, including Heart's Desire, Mingus, Monk & Mal with pianist Mal Waldron, and Night and the Music with pianist Kenny Werner, bassist Ray Drummond, drummer Billy Hart, all on the Free Lance label. It was also in the '90s that Niemack moved to Europe, where she taught vocal jazz in the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, and the Royal Conservatory of the Hague. She also recorded several albums with her then-husband guitarist Jeanfrançois Prins (they divorced in 2016). In 1995, she accepted the position of Professor of Jazz Voice at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" (aka Jazz Institut Berlin). She also authored the Hear It and Sing It! jazz vocal method book series and helped found the vocal jazz program at Musikene, the Basque School of Higher Music, in San Sebastian, Spain. In 2002, she released About Time on Sony Germany, joined by guitarist Prins, bassist Eddie Gomez, vibraphonist David Friedman, and percussionist Café. Blue Nights arrived three years later on Blujazz, again featuring Prins, plus pianist Jim McNeely, bassist Dennis Irwin, and drummer Victor Lewis, with guest appearances by saxophonist Gary Bartz and trumpeter Don Sickler. That same year she collaborated with New York's Big Band Jazz Terraza on What's Going On?. In the Sundance appeared in 2009 with Prins, pianist Bruce Barth, bassist Rufus Reid, and drummer Bruno Castellucci. She then joined pianist Dan Tepfer on 2017's Listening to You, before joining Jim McNeely and the DR Big Band for 2018's New York Stories. Another piano and vocal date, Sing Your Song with pianist Wolfgang Koehler, followed a year later. In 2022, Niemack released What's Love, a small group session with guitarist Peter Bernstein, pianist Sullivan Fortner, bassist Doug Weiss, drummer Joe Farnsworth, and featuring a guest appearance by saxophonist Eric Alexander. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi