Veronica Swift (born May 14, 1994) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Early life

Swift was raised in

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Cha ...

, Virginia, as part of a family of musicians. Her parents are late jazz pianist

Hod O'Brien Walter Howard "Hod" O'Brien (January 19, 1936 – November 20, 2016) was an American jazz pianist. O'Brien was born in Chicago. He attended the Hotchkiss School and then studied at the Oberlin Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music (1954� ...

and singer Stephanie Nakasian. At the age of nine, she recorded her debut album, ''Veronica’s House of Jazz'' (2004), featuring Richie Cole playing with her father's

rhythm section A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhythm sec ...

. She began touring with her parents at this time as well. At age eleven, she appeared in the series ''Women in Jazz'' at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola; At the age of 13, she released her second album, ''It's Great to Be Alive'' (2007), on which saxophonist Harry Allen also played. Swift earned her bachelor's degree in jazz voice in 2016 from the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

Frost School of Music Frost School of Music is the music school at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. From 1926 to 2003, it was known as University of Miami School of Music. Academics and programs The University of Miami's Frost School of Music was on ...

. While there, she composed a goth-rock opera entitled ''Vera Icon'' about a homicidal nun. Swift says she "needed an outlet for the anger" she felt at her father's cancer, and needed a more dramatic genre to express the emotion. Her 2015 album, ''Lonely Woman,'' includes two songs with her father at the piano and may represent the last recording by Hod O’Brien, who died in 2016. Swift placed second at the 2015 Thelonious Monk Competition. Following graduation, she moved to New York City, where she played Saturday nights at the Birdland jazz club.

Career

She appeared with

Chris Botti Christopher Stephen Botti ( ; born October 12, 1962) is an award-winning American trumpeter and composer. In 2013, Botti won the Grammy Award in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category, for the album ''Impressions''. He was also nominated in ...

, Benny Green, and

Michael Feinstein Michael Jay Feinstein (born September 7, 1956) is an American singer, pianist, and music revivalist. He is an archivist and interpreter for the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988 he won a Drama Desk Special Award for cele ...

. She toured with

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...

and the

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is an American big band and jazz orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis. The Orchestra is part of Jazz at Lincoln Center, a performing arts organization in New York City. History In 1988 the Orchestra was formed a ...

. She was involved in ten recording sessions between 2004 and 2019. In 2019, she went on tour with the Benny Green Trio.

Bill Milkowski Bill Milkowski (born September 26, 1954) is an American jazz critic, journalist, and biographer. Since the 1970s he has written thousands of articles for magazines and album liner notes.. He has written for '' DownBeat'', ''JazzTimes'', ''Jazziz' ...

said she has perfect pitch and phrasing.

Awards and honors

* 2019: Best New Artist and Best Vocal Release (for ''Confessions'') in ''Jazz Times'' Readers' Poll

Discography

Solo *''Veronica's House of Jazz'' (HodStef, 2004), with Richie Cole, Hod O'Brien, Pete Spaar,

Ronnie Free Ronnie Free (born Ronald Guy Free on January 15, 1936, in Charleston, South Carolina) is an American jazz drummer. His recording credits date back to the 1950s and he has collaborated with many notable jazz musicians including pianists Mose Allis ...

, Stephanie Nakasian *''It's Great to Be Alive!'' (HodStef, 2007), with Harry Allen, Hod O'Brien, Lee Hudson, Neal Miner, Jeff Brillinger, Stephanie Nakasian *''Lonely Woman'' (HodStef, 2015), with Emmet Cohen, Benny Bennack III, Daryl Johns, Matt Wigler, Scott Lowrie *''Confessions'' (

Mack Avenue Mack Avenue Records is an independent record label in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Background Mack Avenue was founded in 1999 by Gretchen Carhartt Valade, a jazz fan and chair of the American apparel company Carhartt. The company is a sponsor ...

, 2019) *''This Bitter Earth'' (Mack Avenue, 2021) Appearances *Jeff Rupert with Veronica Swift ''Let's Sail Away'' (Rupe, 2017), with Dan Miller, Christian Herrera, Saul Dautch, Richard Drexler, Charlie Silva, Marty Morell *Benny Green: ''Then and Now'' (2018), with Anne Drummond, David Wong, Kenny Washington, Josh Jones

References

External links

* * *
Portrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Veronica 1994 births Living people American women jazz singers American jazz singers Musicians from Charlottesville, Virginia Singers from Virginia 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers