New Orleans Jazz Band With Judy Jacques - 1962 - Yarra Yarra Vol. 2

This Train/Walk Thru' The Valley/He's Got The Whole World In His Hands/Panama Rag


  


Judy Jacques has been recognised as one of Australia's most powerful and popular jazz singers since she started as a teenager singing gospel in the 1960s. During that period and for more than a decade, Judy was in great demand as an award winning television performer. This began with contracts with GTV9, doing shows such as I.M.T. and Bandstand to appearances on most commercial TV shows throughout Australia, including ABC radio and ABC TV.

 In 1975, after spending a year travelling in Europe, Judy decided to look for other ways in which to express her music. 'Jacques is one of the very few singers to emerge from the jazz/folk boom of the early '60's and define a new phase in her musical career in Australia'.

 Judy has collaborated with visual artists and poets, made and performed multi media works 'Memory Theatre One', 'Menindee Wire' and 'Words are not my mother tongue' for the Montsalvat Jazz, Montsalvat Poets Festivals, Women Improvising Musicians Festival and the Composing Woman's Festival.

 In music education, Judy taught and lectured in the Improvisation Dept. Victorian College of the Arts for five years. She also taught at Melbourne University, Presbyterian Ladies College, Eltham College. She has been Artist in Residence at tertiary colleges throughout Victoria. Her improvisation and gospel workshops are legendary. She examines for the Board of Studies and in '99 she was a member of the judging panel, along with Sheila Jordan, Kurt Elling and Tony Gould, for the Wangaratta Jazz Festival's vocal competition.

 She was featured on ABC TV in half hour specials with the Brian Brown Ensemble in 'Jazz as Now', the 'Burrows Collection' and the film 'New Dimensions' which was for general release.

 In 1992 she was included in the Montsalvat Jazz Roll of Honour.

 Judy sang the lead roll in the Brian Brown Opera 'The Winged Messenger' for the opening of the '94 Monsalvat Jazz Festival. She has recorded with the Yarra Yarra New Orleans Band and the Yarra Yarra Reunion Band. Her group in the sixties The Gospel Four recorded singles for Astor records. Later recordings include The Brian Brown Ensemble, High Steppin' with Bob Sedergreen, The Wild Dog Ensemble, with Ian Eccles-Smith and Sandro Donati 'The Moorabbin Tape', with Paul Shultze 'The Annihilating Angel' and in '97 her Lighthouse CD 'Going for a song'.