Come Fly With Me Judy Whitmore

• 1 It’s Nice To Go Trav’ling 03:46
• 2 Come Fly With Me 03:49
• 3 On An Evening In Roma 02:44
• 4 A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square 04:37
• 5 There’s A Small Hotel 02:52
• 6 I Thought About You 03:13
• 7 Moonlight In Vermont 03:40
• 8 April In Paris 03:19
• 9 Georgia on My Mind 04:04
• 10 Autumn In New York 03:11
• 11 Beyond The Sea 02:45
• 12 Around The World 02:39
• Total Runtime 40:39

Info for Come Fly With Me

Vocalist, pilot, and best-selling author Judy Whitmore introduces her rendition of “Come Fly With Me,” the title track from her upcoming album, slated for release in 2024.

“Come Fly With Me” integrates two of Judy’s greatest passions: traveling the world and continuing the legacy of the Great American Songbook. Recorded with a full orchestra at EastWest Studios in Los Angeles, the forthcoming album reveals a lavish elegance, immediately enveloping the listener in its lush, soaring surfaces.

Over the course of 12 gorgeously orchestrated tracks, the Southern California-based vocalist’s third album offers up a musical travelogue, bringing her beguiling voice to timeless songs set in far-flung places across the globe.

Informed by the lifelong wanderlust that’s found her climbing the Great Wall of China and taking in the running of the bulls in Spain, the album draws from Whitmore’s decades of experience as a jet pilot—a journey that began thanks in part to her former neighbor, famed folk singer John Denver. The result: a body of work as transportive, illuminating, and endlessly enchanting as travel itself.

Produced, arranged, and conducted by seven-time Grammy®-nominated composer Chris Walden, “Come Fly With Me” showcases the sophisticated yet ineffably warm vocal work Whitmore has brought to the stage at such historic venues as Carnegie Hall.

Working with her longtime vocal coach/mentor Peisha McPhee and pianist Josh Nelson, the album encompasses everything from jazz standards to traditional pop classics to early R&B ballads.

“Come Fly With Me” opens on a soft, gleaming piano topped by Whitmore’s evocative vocals, at once velvety and deliciously alluring. Graceful strings infuse the melody with sumptuous textures, adding to the gliding sensation of the song. The sparkling piano takes over in the solo section, followed by the re-entrance of Whitmore’s luxurious voice.

No matter what mood she’s inhabiting, each track she sings spotlights the innate musicality Whitmore first discovered as a little girl growing up in Studio City, California. Named after Judy Garland (a friend of her grandfather, who played violin in the MGM Studio Orchestra,) Judy’s first foray into the music business by singing in a Mamas & the Papas-inspired band formed by Capitol Records. Although she’d begun to cultivate a promising career in music, Whitmore’s life soon led her in entirely different directions. After marrying young and having two children, like so many, Judy had to put her dreams on hold. From there, her family moved to Aspen, Colorado, where their closest neighbors were Annie and John Denver who coaxed Judy into confronting her fear of flying by inviting her to board their private plane, Windstar One. Not long after that first flight, Whitmore was determined to conquer her fear and earned her commercial pilot’s license and later began working search-and-rescue missions in the Rocky Mountains—an experience that ultimately inspired her debut novel Come Fly with Me, a 2013 romantic-adventure title that hit #1 on the Amazon Kindle Bestseller List. Also working as a theater producer and a clinical psychologist, despite having achieved tremendous success in such disparate fields, Whitmore still felt that something was undeniably missing in her life. Once again demonstrating her boundless determination, in 2014 she took her first step toward realizing her deepest lifelong dream by co-founding Act Three (a cabaret group whose journey to Carnegie Hall was chronicled in the award-winning documentary film Once Upon a Dream). A truly unstoppable creative force, within several years, she’d struck out on her own and started performing solo shows around Southern California and also joined the board of directors for the Pacific Symphony, and currently serves on the executive committee for the world-renowned orchestra.

Judy Whitmore, vocals, piano

Judy Whitmore
a true modern-day Renaissance woman, heeds the call of the stage, the sky, and beyond. Her life as a vocal artist and writer has taken off, and the sky is the limit. The best-selling author, vocalist, theater producer and pilot, who also holds a Master’s Degree in clinical psychology, approaches all her endeavors with style and spirit. “When you walk alone to the center of the stage, it’s similar to flying,” she observes. “It’s exciting and it’s terrifying at the same time. You step up to the microphone, glance at your musical director, and it’s like hearing the guy in the control tower say ‘cleared for take-off,’ and somehow, you just soar.”

Named after the legendary singer Judy Garland (a friend of her grandfather from his days in the MGM Studio Orchestra), Judy was born in New York City and raised in Studio City, California. Her parents’ passion for the symphony and musical theater fueled her desire for a career in music. Her first foray as a vocal artist and performer began during college when she sang background vocals for Capitol Records in Hollywood. Although she expected to continue on this road, her journey took unexpected and often unbelievable detours.

Marrying young, she and her husband settled in Beverly Hills and had two children. Before long they were embarking on a new adventure that took them away from the glitz and glamour of that storied city. Wanting to raise their children in a more rural environment, they packed up the family and moved to the Rocky Mountain paradise of Aspen, Colorado. There, Judy learned to ski, can peaches, and saddle a horse. She maintained her love of theater, serving as president of both the Aspen Playwright’s Conference and the American Theatre Company, where under her presidency, ATC produced plays that featured Hal Holbrook, Vincent Price, and John Travolta.

It was also in Aspen Judy befriended her closest neighbors, Annie and John Denver. John coaxed her to confront her fear of flying and invited her to board his private plane, Windstar One. The experience was so powerful that it wasn’t long before Judy began to pursue—and earn—her pilot’s license. She eventually became a licensed commercial jet pilot and worked search-and-rescue missions for Pitkin County (Aspen) Air Rescue. She later flew seaplanes, and took up hot-air ballooning. (Listen to Judy describe her confrontation with the fear of flying and her transformation on Tim Benjamin’s “Fear of Flying” podcast.)

Lured back to Los Angeles and the stage, Judy undertook her first independent theater project as the producer of “Taking a Chance on Love” which received a rave review in Variety. From there, she headed to London to co-produce Leonard Bernstein’s “Wonderful Town,” then returned to Southern California where she met the man who would become her second husband. After settling in Pacific Palisades, Judy craved a new life experience. She went back to college, earned a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, and opened a private practice in West Los Angeles.

In due course, it was time for yet another new and exciting move. Judy headed to Newport Beach and enrolled in a series of writing courses at UC Irvine. Her romantic-adventure Come Fly with Me, inspired by her own life as a pilot and penned in 2013, topped the Amazon Kindle Bestseller List. She was recognized with “First Place for Women’s Fiction” at The Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference and the “Editor’s Choice Award” at the San Diego State University’s Writer’s Conference. Other literary credits include All Time Favorites: Recipes From Family and Friends and an illustrated retelling of William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.

Her passion for performing would never be too far out of sight. In 2014, she co-founded ACT THREE with her brother Billy and her neighbor Lynn. The trio brought timeless standards to life at legendary venues including The Ritz Hotel in Paris and both the Metropolitan Room and Carnegie Hall in New York. Once Upon a Dream, the award-winning documentary film, chronicled the trio’s journey to Carnegie Hall.

“I always wanted to sing full-time, but it was never possible. I had to pack my dream of a musical career away in an imaginary box. I tucked it on the highest shelf in my closet and tried to forget about it. I loved being a pilot, and a therapist, and a theater producer, and a writer. I had done all these exciting things, and none of it was easy. But I always felt something was missing,” she admits. “I knew it was time to get that box of dreams out of the closet, cast off the lid and embrace the music career I had always wanted.”

In 2018 Judy ventured onto the stage alone with her show-stopping, cabaret-style vocal act. She’s garnered critical praise from The OC Register and Los Angeles Times who observed “[she] has a bit of a Judy Holliday comedic edge” and “tackled some tough ballads with style.” Her repertoire is diverse, extending from the great American standards to Broadway and jazz. Coming full circle, she seized the moment and returned to Capitol Studios to cut her new album, Can’t We Be Friends, alongside collaborators John Sawoski and GRAMMY® and Emmy Award-winning composer Michael Patterson. Together, they have created a love letter to The Great American Songbook. “This is the music I grew up with, and I don’t want people to forget it. I think it’s one of the most extraordinary bodies of work every created.” Judy currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Pacific Symphony. There’s no end in sight to her adventures.

This album contains no booklet.