| Verona Chard ? Recording On A Wing And A Prayer |
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London-based
jazz vocalist Verona Chard is currently looking for 1,000 Angels to
help make her dream of recording her debut album come true. Already a renowned vocal coach, Verona turned to performing jazz a few years ago, as she finds it gives her greater opportunity for self-expression than singing arias! She is eminently well-qualified to switch musical direction, as she has been the vocal teacher for Claire Martin (four-time Best Vocalist winner at the British Jazz Awards) for many years. Verona teaches at the Central School of Speech and Drama as well as privately coaching a number of well-known students, including Victoria Hart, Kate Dimbleby, Barb Jungr and Joe Gibbons, and she also mentored Ian Shaw once by telephone! In 2005, the late Humphrey Lyttleton asked her to guest on his album ‘Sweet Sad Songs And Crazy Rhythms’, describing her performance as “absolutely marvellous”. Now Verona has formed her own band for ‘The Beat Meets The Bard’ project, a collection of material inspired by the writings of William Shakespeare. The program features her own interpretation of songs by (amongst others) John Dankworth, Duke Ellington, John Hawkins, Rogers and Hart, Elton John, Galt MacDermott, Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim, plus original material. She is currently looking for 1,000 Angels who will purchase a copy of The Beat Meets The Bard album in advance of release for the bargain price of £10. The sum raised will enable Verona to cover the cost of recording and distribution and help her to fund future projects. The finished album will be sent out to ‘Verona’s Angels’ ahead of its official release date later this year. You can see Verona perform music from ‘The Beat Meets The Bard’ when she appears with her band at Ealing Jazz Festival, Walpole Park, Mattock Lane, London W5 on Sunday 27th July at 5.30pm and at The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 from Tuesday 19th until Saturday 23rd August at 9pm, as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. If you would like to become one of Verona’s 1,000 Angels, please pledge your support by sending a cheque for £10, made payable to ‘Vamp Jazz’, to: 1,000 Angels/Vamp Jazz, Ealing House, 33 Hangar Lane, London W5 3RH, tel: 020 8997 3355. |
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