VERONICA THOMAS

THEY SAY IT’S WONDERFUL

Nica Carrington Productions

Veronica Thomas, vocals; John Proulx, piano; Mike Gurrola, bass; Kevin Van Den Elzen, drums; Bob Sheppard, saxophone/flute.

Although Veronica Thomas lives in New York City, she chose to record in Los Angeles, California, using some of the top West Coast jazz players. This is her sophomore album.  She not only changed cities to record, but she changed her name too.  The debut album “Times Like These” was released in 2022 and received rave reviews under the name Nica Carrington. She was accompanied by John Proulx on piano, Chuck Berghofer on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums. Nica, (now adopting her birth name of Veronica Thomas) found a comfort level with Proulx as her musical director, vocal coach, and pianist.  It began when Veronica Thomas chose him online as a vocal instructor. Proulx was impressed with her sultry, emotional sound and she was comfortable with his coaching and easy manner.

One of their arrangements on the first album borrowed the Nancy Wilson arrangement introduction to “Wish I Knew” and surprised me when they morphed into the familiar, “When Sunny Gets Blue” tune. You can hear Veronica’s warmth and honest delivery on this debut album.

They open her new album with a swing arrangement of “Almost In Your Arms” by Livingston & Evans, followed by a slow shuffle of the more familiar Cole Porter standard, “Get Out of Town.” Bob Sheppard puts his indelible mark on the Porter tune when he offers a brilliant saxophone solo. With Proulx’s encouragement, Veronica tackled more upbeat material on this album, than the former that featured a slew of torchy ballads. I enjoy the Thomas rendition and arrangement of “Invitation.”  It’s quite unique.

Thomas is a film lover and she enjoys pulling songs from motion pictures. For example, “Almost in Your Arms” comes from the 1958 movie “Houseboat.”  The “Invitation” composition by Bronislau Kaper can be heard in the opening titles of the film “A Life of Her Own.”  It would later become a jazz standard. Jazz singers fell in love with its honest lyrical story and beautiful melody.

Thomas captures all the nuances and melodic challenges in the song “They Say It’s Wonderful” that Johnny Hartman made so popular on his album with John Coltrane.  The style and vocals of Veronica Thomas are also well-suited to the popular Jobim song, “Dindi.”  Her tone and sincerity have a way of calming the moment and selling us the lyrics.  She and Bob Sheppard’s flute scat- sing in unison, and she flutters like a bird on “Speak Low.” Veronica Thomas is vocally unpretentious and believable. The John Proulx and K. Laurence Dunham composition, “Stuck in a Dream” is a great melodic adventure. Proulx is not only a competent pianist, accompanists and bandleader, he is a superb composer.

Veronica Thomas offers twelve songs, most of them you know and love, that are wonderfully performed by her all-star group of musicians under the direction of Southern California’s own John Proulx.   This album will be available to the public on July 12, 2024.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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