Veronica Swift

Jazz and bebop vocalist Veronica Swift was born on May 14, 1994, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Born into a family of musicians – her father was jazz pianist Hod O’Brien and singer Stephanie Nakasian. Veronica Swift recorded her debut album, Veronica’s House of Jazz (2004), when she was nine years old. The album featured saxophonist Richie Cole and the rhythm section from her father’s band. She toured with her parents and played some high-profile gigs before releasing her album It’s Great to Be Alive (2007) when she was 13. Although she was already an established recording artist, Veronica Swift attended the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and earned her bachelor’s degree in jazz voice in 2016. Her 2015 album, Lonely Woman, featured the last recordings of her father, who died of cancer the following year. Moving to New York City, she began a Saturday night residency at the Birdland Jazz Club. While focusing on her own live performances and recording sessions, she also performed with Wynton Marsalis, Benny Green, Chris Botti, and Michael Feinstein. In 2017, she collaborated with Jeff Rupert on the album Let’s Sail Away. Signing with Mack Avenue Records, she released the critically acclaimed album Confessions (2019), which earned Veronica Swift the Best New Artist and Best Vocal Release in the Jazz Times Readers’ Poll. She followed the success of that album with This Bitter Earth (2021).