This week at Roxy Bar located in the Roxy Hotel New York, we’re proud to feature the acclaimed jazz vocalist Svetlana and her New York Collective performing this Friday, January 28.

 

Get to know more about Svetlana here.

 

Make sure to stay-tuned each Thursday for a new installment of The Roxy Soundcheck!

 

Musically Yours,

The Roxy Bar Team

 

NAME:  Svetlana

 

HOMETOWN:   Moscow, Russia

 

MUSICAL TRAINING:   Piano, music theory and chorus training as a kid for eight years. I received my Associate in Jazz degree from the Moscow College of Improvised Music, and my MA in Jazz Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. And lots and lots of private lessons!

 

FIRST NYC GIGS:  Russian Night Club in Brighton Beach, the Zinc Bar in West Village, and the Back Room Speakeasy on the Lower East Side. 

 

MY MUSICAL INFLUENCES: My first “love” in jazz was Ella Fitzgerald. Over the years I grew to appreciate other vocalists such as Betty Carter, Nancy Wilson, Anita O’Day, Carmen McRae, and of course many of my contemporaries, such as Cecile McLorin Salvant, Cyrille Aimee, and many more.  As my tastes expanded, Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers, Roberta Flack, Marvin Gaye and other American music legends started to influence my writing and arranging.

 

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW:  The George Shearing Quintet with Nancy Wilson The Things We Did Last Summer. Nancy is just so perfect, she has it all – articulation, intonation and swing!  

 

LATEST MUSICAL PROJECTS:  My latest record Night at the Movies debuted #1 on Billboard’s Traditional Jazz Charts.  I’m also writing for and performing with my music for kids project, Swing Makes You Sing, and re-launching my big band with a new Music Director, Emily Fredrickson. 

 

FAVORITE PLACE TO GO IN NYC:  Walking through empty New York City streets in Tribeca at 1:00 AM at the end of September. New York fall is full of beauty, hopefulness and melancholy all at the same time and Tribeca is just full of true New York architectural gems to marvel – especially as the streets are empty of commerce and tourists!

  

IN 2022 I HOPE TO:  Record my Swing Makes You Sing project and distribute it at no charge to any kid or school that wants to be uplifted by it. I also hope to go back on the road with my band, the New York Collective, especially outside the US.   And, if I win the lottery, record my big band project!

 

WHY I LOVE PERFORMING AT THE ROXY BAR:  You can’t beat the setting. It’s classic Art Deco architecture meets modern New York, with that gorgeous “Roxy” sign!  The crowd is fantastic – sophisticated, beautiful and really responds to the music.  And of course, the popcorn from the downstairs Roxy Cinema booth!