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09/22 Veronica Swift
at Dakota Jazz Club
Tour Dates
9/23/23 - The Howard - Osh Kosh, WI
10/12/23 - SFJAZZ Center - San Francisco, CA 10/17/23 - Pepperdine University - Malibu, CA 10/19/23 - Auburn University - Auburn, AL 10/21/23 - Middle C Jazz Club - Charlotte, NC 10/28/23 - Musikhuset Aarhus - Aarhus, DK* 10/29/23 - DR Concert Hall - Copenhagen, DK* 11/3-4/23 - Brass In Jazz - Real Teatro Santa Cecilia 11/7-8/23 - Duc de Lombards - Paris, FR 11/10/23 - Ronnie Scott’s - London, UK 12/30-31/23 - Eschio Estate - Umbria, IT *performing with the Danish Radio Big Band Read More
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What’s neat about writing for We Heart Music is to see fans of all ages at shows. In fact, the age gap between the audience at the Varsity Theater to see David Kushner on September 21st and Veronica Swift at the Dakota the night after is almost three generations. And although the crowd at the Dakota was a little greyer, they were no less enthusiastic in their applause for they were treated to an eclectic, dynamic show from a performer not yet thirty.
Although Veronica Swift is 29 she already has twenty years of music experience, releasing her first album Veronica’s House of Jazz at the tender age of nine. A child prodigy of two parents/musicians, Swift learned early on the ins and outs of not only how to perform but how to present it.
“I’m so F-ING happy to be here,” she proclaimed, wearing an outfit more suited for Las Vegas than the Metropolitan. She was excited to be on the road and with her new band and to play music that she had always wanted to feature. She called her band the “Trans Genre Band” and they had joined her to promote her new self-titled album which has everything from French and Italian opera to industrial rock, funk and so much more. For example she re-imagined Trent Reznor’s “Closer” as a James Brown funk-fest. She buttressed Judy Garland’s “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” with Fredric Chopin piano flourishes.
Swift didn’t have to go this route. She was well on her way to becoming part of jazz royalty. Her first gig out of college was at The Birdland in NYC. (Not easy to do.) She’s toured with Benny Green and played with Wynton Marsalis. Downbeat gave her previous album This Bitter Earth five stars. Chris once Botti said, “She’s a throwback to something that does not exist in popular culture. And I’m talking about Anita O’Day and Billy Holiday.”
Yes, she could have a comfortable career in concert halls and jazz clubs singing the jazz standards in a satin gown, but there’s a plucky, insatiable spirit which she put on full display with Jefferson Airplane’s hallucinating “White Rabbit” which started far-off and distant, slow-moving like a train of camels, then building into an epic finish before collapsing.
Two personal favorites: “Room with a View” an original song she wrote about moving into her new LA home. It started out as a peppy, bouncy 60’s pop song before moving into full-tilt 70’s arena rock. Then “In the Moonlight” a song based on Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” that somehow ended up turning into a Broadway musical finale.
Joining Swift on this new musical odyssey is Brian Viglione of the Dresden Dolls. He helped produce the new album and was on drums. Swift could not be any more effusive on what it meant to have him on tour and what the Dresden Dolls meant to her growing up. And as a thank you she finished the evening with “Sing” from the Dresden Dolls’ Yes, Virginia.
Veronica Swift at Dakota Jazz Club, Minneapolis (22 Sep 2023) |
| dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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