Judy Jacques - The Sixties Sessions (Mono)

The first ever retrospective of Australia's Queen of Gospel and Trad Jazz; includes the Northern Soul classic "You're Messin' Up My Mind". Though forgotten by the mainstream today, Australia played host to a vibrant Trad Jazz scene in the mid 1950s-1960s. At the forefront of the early 60's scene was the dynamic young ensemble The Yarra Yarra New Orleans Jazz Band; fronted by the robust, impassioned voice of Judy Jacques.Becoming an icon of Australia's Trad Jazz movement; Judy was also responsible for introducing songs from the Black Gospel canon to Australia. This area was further explored with her next group The Gospel Four; formed after declining an offer to join The Seekers (a position, of course, then filled by her Melbourne Jazz scene contemporary Judith Durham).Jacques would also carve out a prolific career as musical performer on Australian Television before a self-imposed "retirement" in the early Seventies.This compilation from Playback Records draws together all of Judy's period group recordings, along with solo singles (including "You're Messin' Up My Mind", now considered a classic of the UK's Northern Soul scene). Newly remastered, this collection is packaged with a deluxe 32 page booklet featuring rare and unpublished photos, a definitive biographical essay and track-by-track commentary from Judy herself.