Featuring opener Laura Anglade
Veronica Swift’s new eponymously titled album, her third for Mack Avenue Records, is a masterful coming-out story. On her previous albums, Confessions (2019) and This Bitter Earth (2021), she ascended to the upper echelon of early 21st century jazz singers because of her virtuosic brilliance, interpretive ingenuity, bracing songwriting, and keen arrangements. Simply put, Swift is not only one of the most dazzling singers to emerge in her generation, she’s one of the most versatile.
While her first two albums solidified her position in modern jazz, Veronica Swift shows that she’s more than a jazz singer, exploring French and Italian opera, European classical music, bossa nova, blues, industrial rock, funk, and vaudeville. She pulls the feat off without the results sounding callow or pastiche. Swift’s expansive artistic voice remains firmly intact regardless of genre. She describes this personal artistic statement on her new album as “transgenre.”
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French-American singer Laura Anglade is a promising storyteller with a lot to say. She draws inspiration from Carmen McRae, Blossom Dearie, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Horn, Nancy Wilson, and Anita O’Day.
Laura has made a mark in the vibrant music scenes of New York, Paris, Toronto, and Montreal, collaborating with some of the world's finest musicians, including Peter Bernstein, Jonathan Kreisberg, Ben Paterson, Ira Coleman, Reg Schwager, and Neil Swainson.
She leads an active international touring schedule and has performed at renowned venues like Olympia (Paris), the Royal Festival Hall (London), Town Hall (New York City), the Ace Theatre Hotel (Los Angeles), and the mainstage at the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal. She opened for Gregory Porter at the Victoria Jazz Festival (summer 2022), and Melody Gardot (fall 2022), joining her across the east and west coasts of the United States and in Europe.
Her debut album, I’ve Got Just About Everything (Justin Time Records, 2019) was met with praise by critics and fans alike. Her second Juno-nominated album, Venez Donc Chez Moi (Justin Time Records, 2022) is a duo recording featuring Montreal guitarist Sam Kirmayer, with whom she was awarded the “Prix Opus" for Jazz Concert of the Year in 2023.