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Lucy Smith is a singer, composer, bandleader, cultural programmer, and producer whose quartet/quintet is a dynamic part of Chicago’s music scene. She was born and raised in the Englewood community on the South Side of Chicago. Her musical collaborations include works for theatre, film, and spoken word productions. Lucy's holiday album, Singing Christmas, ranked No. 1 on the Americana Charts in January of 2023. She leads a myriad of musical combinations exploring the worlds of traditional jazz, blues, gospel, and other popular music, including her project, Autumn in Augusta (AIA), a folk and soul-fused tribute to her mother. AIA’s first CD release, Songs My Mama Would Like, garnered rave reviews, and Lucy and her band were featured at the 2015 Chicago Jazz Festival. She worked for eight years as the music director for Chicago’s Fourth Presbyterian’s “Jazz at Four” service, where she created a new jazz-infused paradigm for worship while rearranging centuries-old hymns and keeping alive the legacy of sacred jazz music.
Lucy’s other music director work includes projects at the Park West Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Steppenwolf Theatre, where she shared the stage with blues legend Koko Taylor and others. She has composed and performed music for the feature film Hannah Free and the documentary Woke Up Black. She cast and directed a reader’s theatre production of Jewell Parker Rhodes' Ghost Boy. Lucy was the lead vocalist for the Center for Black Music Research's Stop-Time Ensemble (Columbia College) and the Concord Orchestra. Lucy was the producer/coordinator for the music stage at the Artists of the Wall Festival in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood for nine years. Lucy performs often for organizations working on social and economic justice issues. Lucy completed jazz vocal (M. Mus) and jazz studies (B. Mus) under the tutelage of Bobbi Wilsyn, Orbert Davis, Jennifer Shelton and Patricia Barber. Before full-time musicianship, Lucy was the Associate Director of the Crossroads Fund in Chicago.
Lucy Smith: “Singing Christmas” (Living Muse Songs). Chicagoan Lucy Smith goes to church in “Singing Christmas,” the singer digging deeply into the spiritual side of seasonal repertoire. The austere beauty of her version of “Silent Night,” the gospel fervor she brings to “Jesus Gonna Be Here” and the imploring quality of her singing in “Rise Up, Shepherd and Follow” explore the meaning of faith. The unadorned beauty of Smith’s work, as well as her inclusion of less-familiar repertoire, distinguish “Singing Christmas,” making it a testament to what the holiday signifies.
-- Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune
Influenced by a rich portfolio of sounds, from Mariam Makeba to Stevie Wonder to Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln, "the rich, deep, Lucy Smith sound seeps down in your soul and stirs it forward. Whether she's singing about love lost or newly found, she moves your heart to a warm place in the sun." --Shirley Jahad
With a mature and confident voice, Lucy covers the spectrum -- offering jazz, blues and some funky R&B. Her arrangements are artful, the songwriting smart and there are some wonderful surprises. So listen and enjoy!
-- Richard Steele, Chicago Public Radio
Chicago-based jazz vocalist Lucy Smith is both a talented songwriter and a gifted interpreter of other people's songs. Smith's originals are truly inspired and deserve to be heard by everyone.
-- Gregg Shapiro, Chicago Free Press
...vocalist Lucy Smith's mellifluous smooth as butter vocals...immediately grab your attention.
-- Dan Kening, Metromix
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