About a month ago, I wandered down the street to Fellini's #9, my neighborhood pub, to hear some terrific jazz served up by the singer Veronica Swift and pianist Hod O'Brien. I heard two long sets of standards and bebop, and I've rarely heard musicians respond as sympathetically to each other, anticipating every nuance of each other's performance. It makes sense that they were so perfectly in sync -- Hod and Veronica just happen to be father and daughter.
John Edwin Mason: Veronica Swift, Fellini's #9, Charlottesville, Virginia, October 2010. (All photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2010. Click directly on any of the photos to see larger versions.)
If Hod's name rings a bell, you're a real jazz insider. He's a charter member of the "underground of the jazz renowned" -- musicians who are revered by their peers, but are largely unknown to the general public. For many years, he was a prominent part of the New York jazz scene. In fact, he replaced Bill Evans in the Oscar Pettiford Quintet when he was only 21 years old. He and his wife, Stephanie Nakasian, a jazz vocalist with an impressive resume (and Veronica's mother), have made Charlottesville their home since the early '90s.
John Edwin Mason: Veronica Swift and Hod O'Brien, Fellini's #9, Charlottesville, Virginia, October 2010.
You probably haven't heard of Veronica, yet, no matter how closely you follow jazz. But chances are that you'll be seeing her name more and more frequently over the coming years. She's got style and poise well beyond her years (she's still in high school).
John Edwin Mason: Veronica Swift and Hod O'Brien, Fellini's #9, Charlottesville, Virginia, October 2010.
Three things most impressed me about Veronica's singing: Her sense of time -- she nailed both swing and bebop grooves to the wall; her intonation -- she placed every note was right where it was supposed to be, something that's not easy to do, given the harmonic complexity of the music she was singing; and her interpretations -- she already knows how to sell a lyric.
John Edwin Mason: Veronica Swift and Austin Patterson, Fellini's #9, Charlottesville, Virginia, October 2010.
Austin Patterson, another high school singer, joined Veronica for a couple of numbers. As you can see, they were having fun, and, trust me, so was the crowd at Fellini's.
John Edwin Mason: Veronica Swift and Stephanie Nakasian, Fellini's #9, Charlottesville, Virginia, October 2010.
Stephanie Nakasian was on hand to watch her daughter sing, and there would undoubtedly been a riot if she hadn't agreed to sing a duet or two with Veronica. (We're all Nakasian fans around here.) They sounded great together. It was the perfect way to end the evening.
Sorry I missed this one! I too think Ronnie is just terrific. Thanks for this great post...
Posted by: Bob Travis | 06 December 2010 at 08:00 AM
Thanks for the post and the great photos, John!
Posted by: Jane McDonald | 20 February 2012 at 02:38 PM