LUCY WOODWARD
Born in London, Lucy spent her childhood in New York and Holland. She is the daughter of two classical musicians - her father a conductor and composer, her mother an opera singer, musicologist, teacher and bellydancer. No matter which household she was living in, she was “always music-making and creating.”
Fresh out of school, she was singing jazz in NYC’s West Village for tips, singing in cover bands and writing songs before signing with Atlantic Records (2003) —a time period that saw her score a Top 40 hit with “Dumb Girls” and another Top 5 hit she wrote for Stacie Orrico called “(There's Gotta Be) More to Life”, earning her 2 BMI Awards. With her debut record in tow, she toured the US, Japan and New Zealand and appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
But Woodward had no desire to be a pop starlet: her follow-up, the jazzier, punchier indie record Lucy Woodward is...Hot and Bothered was released in 2008 which “shed new light” on music-making again. Hot and Bothered was inspired by her days at Manhattan School of Music, lots of Etta James and the 1967 classic animated film The Jungle Book bringing her back to her bluesy roots. Billboard described how “Lucy's a ball, equally appreciable for fans of melodic sing-along baubles and highbrow aficionados of finely honed musical composition. A sonic turnstile that flips through dreamy pop, jazz and bluesy bebop”.
This, in turn, was followed by Hooked!, an album of Brill Building meets Big Band songs, released on Verve/Universal (2010) -- which was largely produced by Tony Visconti (David Bowie). The album effortlessly moves across multiple genres, including gypsy-swing, jazz and rhythm & blues. Along with her self-penned compositions, the album showcases Lucy’s stunning covers of Peggy Lee’s Cuban-inspired “Sans Souci” and an a cappella Hoagy Carmichael classic, “Stardust.” Nellie McKay, who Lucy had always been a hardcore fan of, wrote a song for her called “Another Woman” which Lucy recorded on Hooked! as well (featuring Nellie on background vocals).
In 2012, Lucy was asked to tour as a band member filling in for the lead singer of Pink Martini learning songs in Turkish, French Croatian, Japanese and Spanish with 6 days notice. Lucy’s dates with Pink Martini varied from Montreal Jazz Fest to singing with the San Francisco Symphony for several performances. That same year, Lucy has also toured overseas sponsored by Armed Forces Entertainment, performing for American military units stationed in Spain, Italy and Turkey.
Lucy met Snarky Puppy bandleader Michael League, who played bass in her NYC band at the time. She started opening for Snarky Puppy (with them as her backing band) and was featured on Snarky Puppy’s Family Dinner, Vol. 1 album singing the hauntingly bluesy “Too Hot To Last”, earning them their first Grammy. League and longtime friend keyboardist/arranger Henry Hey (Forq, Rudder, David Bowie) co-produced her fourth solo album Til They Bang on The Door, which was released on GroundUP/Verve/Universal in 2016. The album features the Snarky Puppy horns, Cory Henry on organ and Grammy nominees trombonist Alan Ferber and cellist Dave Eggar as well as many other musicians in their NYC community. She continues to tour with Snarky Puppy and Forq.
In 2017, Lucy debuted her material with Big Band arrangements from two of her albums performing at Aarhus Jazz Festival and Jam Days with TipToe Big Band in Denmark, Holland and in Los Angeles. She was also invited to perform a concert collaboration with Germany's WDR Big Band (featuring arrangements/conducted by Chris Walden) in Fall of 2018. Lucy has been touring with Charlie Hunter “trio-style” for much of 2018 and they recently recorded an album full of pocket-heavy renditions of vintage blues and classic vintage pop (2019 release). Lucy will also be featured singer in a 2 week residency with bandleader Dominick Farinacci at Jazz At Lincoln Center in Shanghai, China in December, 2018.
In addition to her solo career, Woodward toured with Rod Stewart for many years singing background vocals. She has also sung on albums by Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Chaka Khan, Snarky Puppy, Barbra Streisand, Nikka Costa, Carole King, Joe Cocker, Michael Bolton, Gavin DeGraw and Randy Jackson. Her songs and vocals have been heard in many movies/TV shows including What a Girl Wants, The Blind Side, Music and Lyrics, New Year’s Eve, First Daughter, Last Vegas, Footloose, Manhattan Nocturne, Accepted and Disney’s Ice Princess, with her rendition of Bjork/Betty Hutton big band cover "It's Oh So Quiet."