At age 25, Veronica Swift is one of the top young jazz singers on the scene. Hailing from Charlottesville, Virginia, Swift is the daughter of the late pianist Hod O’Brien and singer/educator/author Stephanie Nakasian. When she was 9 years old, Swift recorded her debut album, Veronica’s House of Jazz, featuring saxophonist Richie Cole playing with her father’s rhythm section. In 2015, she placed second in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocals Competition. Swift has toured with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and performed with jazz greats including Jon Hendricks, Esperanza Spalding, Joe Lovano and Danilo Pérez. In concert, her repertoire ranges from bebop and vocalese classics to standards from the ‘20s and ‘30s. Rounding out the trio led by pianist Emmet Cohen are Russell Hall on bass and Bryan Carter on drums.

 

Vilray (vill-ree) is a composer and performer from Brooklyn who sings and plays guitar, most notably in a duet with Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive. The duo’s sound, which grew out of a mutual appreciation for the pop music of the 1930s and ‘40s, recalls the warm intimacy of radio’s golden age. Vilray studied Jazz Composition at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he and Price first met. A versatile composer and lyricist who has written for film and theater, Vilray counts Fats Waller, Charlie Christian, Les Paul and the Mills Brothers among his major influences. For recording sessions, Vilray is partial to using authentic ribbon microphones from the 1930s.