Judy Carmichael Celebrates 25 Years of 'Jazz Inspired'

When jazz pianist and Sag Harbor resident Judy Carmichael first began recording her NPR radio show “Jazz Inspired” back in 2000, she couldn’t have imagined that 25 years later, it would still be going strong.

But here she is, and as she looks back on a quarter century of the many conversations she’s had with a diverse cross-section of talent from the world of film, television, music, art and more, she’s happy to report that she did it her way.

To celebrate this milestone, on Sunday, May 4, Carmichael will host a Champagne luncheon at The American Hotel in Sag Harbor to raise funds for Jazz Inspired, Inc. the 501c3 foundation that supports Carmichael’s educational outreach programs as well as “Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired,” the NPR show and now, the podcast, that bears her name. Sunday’s luncheon begins at noon sharp and will feature Carmichael playing a piano recital of swinging tunes alongside her guitarist, John Merrill.

Carmichael’s “Jazz Inspired” guests over the years have run the gamut and have included people like singer-songwriter Billy Joel, writer and producer Seth MacFarlane, astrophysicist Neal deGrasse Tyson, actors Jeff Goldblum (who’s also a jazz pianist) and Robert Redford, opera singer Renee Fleming, movie critic Leonard Maltin, architect Frank Gehry and novelist E.L. Doctorow, among countless others. But no matter how diverse their field of expertise, these guests all bring one common denominator to the table — they love jazz and greatly appreciate how the music has influenced them in their lives and careers.

Ironically, when Carmichael first devised the concept for “Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired,” she expected NPR to just pick up the ball and run with it. After all, she was an in-demand jazz pianist with places to go and gigs to perform.

But that’s not how it went at all. Good thing, too, because by becoming the producer of the show, Carmichael has retained control over every aspect of it — content and guests included.

“What’s interesting is, I’ve always been a fan of public radio and I was with NPR for a year,” Carmichael explained in a recent interview in Sag Harbor. “They took my show and at the end of the year, they fired the head of the jazz department.

“I thought, if this keeps going like this, I’ll have to do it myself.”

At the time, Carmichael was not thrilled about the prospect of becoming a producer of her own radio show. After all, she still had a busy concert career to manage which was chock full of engagements around the globe.

“So for a while, I kept doing it in the NPR mode,” she said. “Then I thought, ‘Wait a minute, I can do it the way I want to. I’m free.’ At first I thought I wanted to be with NPR, but then I realized I’m not answering to anybody. It’s nobody else’s money, no pressure to please anyone.”

Today, “Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired” can be heard on NPR stations across the country, as well as in Canada and the Caribbean. It can also be heard at 11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday nights on SiriusXM Satellite Radio (on NPR Now Channel 122), streamed on the “Jazz Inspired” website or any podcast platform. While Carmichael concedes that, on the one hand, being her own boss makes things more difficult since all the responsibility for the show falls on her, on the other hand, she’s had complete artistic freedom along the way of this 25-year-journey.

Not many people can say that and when asked to share one lesson she’s learned on the road to the 25th anniversary of “Judy Carmichael: Jazz inspired,” she said, “I didn’t think originally that I would still be producing it. I knew it was a good idea, I went with NPR, thinking they’ll produce it, I’ll just come in a do the interviews. All these many years later, I’m thrilled I’m producing it.

“I play way more music than anyone else would. Now there’s nothing even vaguely like it out there,” she explained. “There are jazz podcasts, but mine is so much broader than that.”

For Carmichael, the larger mission of the show is to incorporate the philosophy and meaning of life that keeps people inspired — it just uses jazz music as the entry point.

“So it’s a much bigger conversation,” she said. “I designed it that way because I was interested in the creative process, in a way that anyone can be creative. We’re listening to creative people and hopefully getting insight into their lives — and not just about music.

“Having a show for all these years where I get to talk to people I admire. I keep learning from them,” she added. “Consciously creative people see that as a central part of who they are. They’re present, engaged and in the moment, which I think is the best way to live.”

And after a quarter of a century as master of her own ship, Carmichael has perfected the balancing act of producing and recording the radio show while also performing on the road. Advances in recording technology in recent years have certainly helped things along, given the many challenges she had to overcome in the beginning.

“Distribution was really difficult,” Carmichael recalled. “I mortgaged my house, I had to pay for satellite uplink, I went to a public radio conference which cost a lotta money. I work for myself and I didn’t want to go to a convention. I didn’t know anyone, got a badge, had a booth. I started the show with 13 famous people who were friends of mine. I said, ‘I have a concept, would you do it?’”

They did, and that first recorded show was with Tony Walton, the late costume and set designer who lived in Sag Harbor

“I made 13 CDs and handed them out to stations and then promoted it on my own,” Carmichael explained. “I would call stations one by one. I’m lucky, I had a name in jazz and they listened.”

As the show gained traction, Carmichael made improvements. She listened to other radio shows for ideas on what she could do better — and she basically developed a podcast before anyone knew what a podcast was.

“It’s really true,” said Carmichael, who has found a way to balance her roles as a producer and a working musician traveling the world.

“I loved those variety shows growing up, I created that in my jazz world,” she said. “What I do is my version of the ‘Carol Burnett Show,’ I walk on stage, I tell my stories and I get to talk to smart, interesting people who most people would never have on a show.

“I’ve always wanted to feature people who would never get an hour on public radio. I like to feature people who would never get that attention.”

And it would seem that all these years later, her instincts have proven her right.

“To me, a successful guest leaves me thinking they deserve every penny they earn,” said Carmichael, who records about 35 new shows each year with the support of her longtime production editor, Kurt Heidolph. “I’m talking to fascinating people and I’m playing their favorite music.”

But if Carmichael has learned anything in her many years in the business, it’s that everything changes.

“It’s been challenging,” she conceded. “The record industry has changed, people’s attitude about jazz have changed, artists attitudes have changed. In some ways it’s become more challenging over the years. I don’t want to ask the same questions and I have nobody else writing the questions — most shows have a staff of people.

“The challenging part of the show is to keep it fresh. I want people with interesting stories, not just someone who has a new record.”

Though Carmichael is often pitched on the idea of interviewing musicians with new projects to sell, she finds that most of them are not particularly interesting.

“It has to be someone who has something different to say,” she said.

By way of example, Carmichael points to Hanna Gill, a young jazz vocalist, songwriter, and performer who recently appeared on the program.

“I loved her CD, it was a different take of ’20s and ’30s standards. This was a young woman, 26, who is unlike most of the musicians who all have jazz degrees,” said Carmichael. “It was not like that when I came up and Hannah just went to New York. Her attitude was, ‘I just want to entertain, sing, get better and be able to go out to dinner a couple times a month.’

“I love it. She was my kind of artist. It was authentic and she was in it because she loves it and wants to figure out a way to keep going,” Carmichael continued. “She didn’t have 10 stylists or someone saying you have to sell this many records. It was an artist being authentic, that’s what appeals to me.”

Tickets for the Champagne luncheon to celebrate 25 years of “Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired” are $150, all inclusive. The event beings promptly at noon on Sunday, May 4, and will run until 2 p.m. To reserve a ticket, visit judycarmichael.com/events/. The American Hotel is at 45 Main Street in Sag Harbor.