Judy James Atkins

Atkins, Judy (nee, James) - Beloved wife of the late Tom Atkins; loving mother of Paula (Todd) Reed and Mark (Amy) Cowley; step-mother to Mike (Patty) Atkins and Christie (Charles) Rankin; grandmother of Geoff (Beth) Wahl, Jonathan Wahl, Jamie Wahl, Joey (Taylor Kusan) Wahl, Rachel Wahl, Ryan Cowley, Jillian (Thom Berryment) Cowley, Jordan (Leah) Cowley, and Zoe Cowley. She was step - grandmother to nine children and great - grandmother/step-great of eight. Judy passed away Thursday June 2, 2016; age 84 years; resident of Cincinnati, Ohio. A renowned Cincinnati jazz vocalist, Judy James began her career singing with her father Jimmy James' nationally known big band while still a senior at Anderson High School in Cincinnati. She appeared on numerous local television shows before leaving her father's band to work with the well-known Dee Felice Trio. Later, she moved to New York, where she appeared in such famous jazz rooms as Birdland, The Living Room, and The Half Note. She became a protégée of international comedic star Buddy Hackett and traveled the United States and Canada as the opening act for Buddy Hackett, Jackie Gayle, Professor Irwin Corey and Jackie Mason. Some of the jazz musicians with whom she has performed are: Zoot Sims, Roger Kellaway (at Birdland), John Bunch, Bill Berry and the L.A. Big Band, Benny Golson, Wes Montgomery, Fred Hersch, Milton Hinton, Sam Woodyard, Joe Williams, Bill Henderson, Buddy Morrow, Nelson Riddle and Maynard Ferguson. While in New York, she appeared several times on the nationally syndicated Merv Griffin Show. In Cincinnati she was a regular performer at The Blue Wisp and other jazz venues, working with the Frank Vincent Trio, Cal Collins, Ed Moss, and the Phil DeGreg Trio to name a few. She has recorded on Norman Records, The Blue Wisp Jazz Label, and J-Curve CD, Cincinnati Jazz Volume 2. She co-hosted a television musical variety show in Indianapolis, where she met her late husband, former television news anchor, Tom Atkins. In 2008, the jazz community gathered to celebrate her distinguished career in a tribute to Judy. She will be deeply missed and leaves an endearing legacy of adoring family and friends…and enough recordings to remind us that her verve lives on!
Family and friends may gather in a celebration of her life at the Dee Felice Café in Newport, KY, at a date yet to be determined.