Let's Swing With Judy Carmichael

On Saturday, December 9, at 8 p.m., Grammy Award-nominated jazz pianist, vocalist and humorist Judy Carmichael will present an evening of swing music from the 1930s and 1940s at Bay Street Theater. Carmichael and her trio will present a high-energy, joyful evening of favorites from the Great American Songbook and Carmichael’s compositions.

Judy Carmichael tours the world with her show, but lives right here in Sag Harbor, so she considers her annual Bay Street appearances a highlight of her touring season. Judy’s own witty compositions — think Randy Newman meets Peggy Lee, paired with swinging romps on Cole Porter, Frank Loesser, and other greats, to sultry takes on Gershwin and Ellington — promises the perfect warm and cheery holiday celebration.

Carmichael is one of the world’s leading interpreters of stride and swing piano. Count Basie nicknamed her “Stride,” acknowledging the command with which she plays this technically and physically demanding jazz piano style. She has taken this infectious style of music and her equally infectious personality everywhere from posh nightclubs in Paris and Melbourne to Carnegie Hall and a Rio concert for ten thousand Brazilians. NPR and podcast fans know “Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired,” her weekly program — now in its 23rd year on air — interviewing celebrated jazz-inspired creative people. Guests have included Neil deGrasse Tyson, Willie Nelson, Glenn Close, Jon Batiste and everyone in between. The show airs locally on WLIW 88.3 FM Sundays at 7 p.m. She has written two books on stride piano and numerous articles about jazz. Her memoir, “Swinger! A Jazz Girl’s Adventures From Hollywood to Harlem” was published in January 2018 and her book, “Great Inspirations: 22 Years of Jazz Inspired on NPR” was published in August 2022.

Tickets for the concert are $40 to $60 at baystreet.org or 631-725-9500. Bay Street Theater is on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor.