Jazz vocalist Vanisha Gould and her trio will perform at 1pm on Sunday, September 22 at the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, co-sponsored by the August Wilson African American Cultural Center and Highmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
Timing couldn't be any better for the singer as she is about to release her new album She's Not Shiny, She's Not Smooth (Cellar Music Group).
"A lot of this music I've been singing with the band every day for about two years. She's Not Shiny, She's Not Smooth is a new concept I developed when I received a commission from the Jazz Gallery. I just love the idea of embracing your imperfections. A lot of the tunes I write, if not a love song, it's about being imperfect and embracing it. And just life period, life is not perfect. You can try as much as you like to make things work out and something will happen."
So far, Vanisha has released two of the singles on the album. One is titled "Donovan" and that's a song she actually sang NPR's 2018 Tiny Desk competition.
"Now it's like in my blood. I wrote it during my last year of college and I had it released with this great organization called Apartment Sessions. I think for this album I was really excited to have my band on it, piano, bass and drums. The feedback has been great."
Gould, a mainstay of the New York Jazz club scene for many years, also performed live for the passengers on the second annual "Jazz Train" from NYC to Pittsburgh this past Thursday.
Gould comes from a musical family. Her brother Victor is an acclaimed pianist and composer.
