*Judy Carmichael* easily conjures memories of the great stride masters with her firm but not overly emphatic left hand and those tricky, sparkling treble runs that seem to spill from her right-hand fingertips.

“You can’t just play a little stride,” says this musician whose name is often coupled with “stride pianist.” “It’s hard — technically, physically, rhythmically.”

And that’s the part of Carmichael that defies categorization – on either coast or points in between. Stride pianists, who play a swinging, pounding brand of improvisational jazz, are a rare, seemingly dying breed. Those still around are older males who play the music of hard-living black jazz musicians from the O20s and O30s such as James P. Johnson, Willie (The Lion) Smith, Charles (Luckey) Roberts and that most famous of all stride musicians, Thomas “Fats” Waller.

Ms. Carmichael is an official Steinway Artist and has also represented the United States and Jazz in her tours of India, China, and Portugal and is also an author of her own book, “Judy Carmichael’s Complete Book of Stride Piano.”

A native of California, Judy Carmichael moved East twelve years ago and has maintained a busy concert schedule in Europe and the United States. She is included in “Who’s Who in the East”, “Who’s Who in Finance and Industry in America”, “Who’s Who in American Women”, “American Women in Jazz” as well as” the “Encyclopedia of Jazz”.

Ms. Carmichael has appeared on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, and has been featured on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, Entertainment Tonight and CBS’ Sunday Morning program.