Local Jazz Vocalist Creates Her Own “Hometown Philly Sound”

Originally Published at University City Review: http://ucreview.com/local-jazz-vocalist-creates-her-own-hometown-philly-sound-p8395-86.htm

July 17, 2019:

By Jaya Montague

Geraldine Oliver did not want a quiet retirement.

Oliver, a former nurse, packed her old scrubs away and started going to local jazz shows on the weekends. Even though some of her friends played instruments in jazz bands, none of them knew that Oliver performed too.

After one of her first times singing on stage at La Rose Jazz Club, Geraldine thought that her life needed some more sound. The West Philly native is now a regular jazz vocalist at SOUTH Jazz Kitchen on Broad St. and a performer in this year’s annual Jazz & Arts Festival.

Q1: Who was your inspiration for becoming a singer?

A: Well, I grew up with a lot of music. Carmen McCray was one person that I was always involved with musically. I can’t say that one over [the other] really influenced me, because each of them had their own qualities. I happen to like all of the qualities and try to blend them all.

Q2: What would you say is your style?

A: I think it’s soulful and sassy. I’ve been told that it’s sultry. And I guess, just me. I like for it to be joyful, I like music to have joy in it. So I try to make sure that my performances are highly energized (without a whole bunch of jumping around). I try to bring that kind of energy when I come.

Q3: There are a lot of genres out there, but what is it about jazz that makes it special?

A: Jazz because it’s everyday life. It’s a feeling, it’s a philosophy. There’s a lot of grit in jazz. I think there’s a lot of soulfulness in jazz and I think it’s very reflective. I was raised on it. Our [black] culture, you know, some blues, some of our songs had that call-and-response rhythmic. It was also, this is what we have to do; we have to get it done now.

Q4: You’ve been in a few articles where the topic was about the preservation of jazz. Why do you think that it’s important for future generations to preserve jazz?

A: Quite a few things. Number one, if we don’t preserve it, who will? And if someone preserves it, will they preserve it in its purest form? Our [black] culture is pure. It’s a history of coming from Kingdoms and Queendomships to being reduced to slavery. Whenever the original anything is no longer nurtured by people who know the original form… let’s say that you wanted to bake a sour cream pound cake. Then you decided not to put as much sour cream in it or decide not to put in any sour cream at all. So, what do you have at that point? You don’t have a sour cream pound cake. You may have a pound cake but it’s minus the main ingredient. So for us culturally, historically, looking forward to the future, if you don’t know what your past was, you can’t predict what your future will be. Jazz has been the foundation for all genres of music, it has. I think that we as people, it’s just something that we can’t forget.

Q5: Why PEC? Why our jazz festival?

A: Are you kidding? I grew up in this neighborhood. I’ve come to this festival several times over the years. I think that it’s one of the best jazz venues for the summer. This will be my first performance in any festival, so I’m excited about that. It was just on my list of things to do. Just the fact that somebody’s working to keep live music alive and lifting jazz up, I wanted to be a part of that. It’s a historical event every year that it happens because we’re losing so many people now. A lot of our best musicians are in their 80s, so they’re not going to be around. So it’s a treat for me to even be in the same area as some of these guys. It’s the jam to be at!

Q6: What are some things that you would like to do to further your vocalist career?

A: Musically, I’d like to start going outside of the city. You do reach a saturation point in your local market. I’ll be at the Atlantic City Regional Library on August 15th. I’d like to have my own CD available at some point and to be able to do more festivals. I’d like to encourage people to follow their dreams. Your personal job is to do you.