Her voice is a bell-clear thing of beauty, playful, nuanced, and able to effortlessly convey emotion. Glen Starkey, SLO NewTimes (January 29, 2014)
Philbin has a warm voice, an ear for lyrics, and phrases impressively.
JOE LANG, Jersey Jazz (April 2014)
While some children strive to color outside the lines, Judy has always wanted to sing outside the melody. She injects her personal style into contemporary and folk, as well as jazz standards, delivering each song with the skill of a lyric storyteller. Her pure, clear tone has been called uplifting, healing, evocative and above all, beautiful.
“After years of classical instrumental and choral background, I yearned to express the music as it touched me personally, not necessarily as it was written,” says Judy. “I still love singing classical and Broadway-style music and, vocally, those are very challenging. But I also love the freedom that jazz brings to the table. It allows you to ‘color outside the lines’. It allows you to explore and express musical thoughts and ideas in the moment. Each performance is new, different. It’s exhilarating to create on the spot.”
Her influences have global roots, drawn from living in Latin America as a child, and Europe as an adult. “I enjoy just about all styles of singing. I’ve even sung in an Irish band. I consider myself a storyteller that draws from the musical and emotional freedom that grew out of many genres. It’s about moving the listener’s heart an inch, a mile, or sometimes light-years into another dimension.”