Spotlight On: Geraldine Oliver

“I desire to show the world what hope looks like every time I have the chance to be presented in this musical forum as well as other aspects of my life,” says vocalist and community advocate Geraldine Oliver. She loves telling stories through music, and getting across just the right interpretation when she sings. 

While all musicians draw on their various experiences to bring color and life to their music, Oliver has walked the road less traveled. She’s spent an entire career giving hope to people not as a singer but as a nurse who cared deeply about delivering healthcare that was, “holistic—and given with kindness and love.” She says that humor and compassion are also values that she and other leaders need to bring to the table.

The way Oliver sees it, the pivot in her career is really just a next phase, not a complete turnaround. “Continuing my mission as a healer, I see using this music to help people heal. Heal their minds, hearts and spirits. Jazz is the healing force—my mantra. I want to use my life and my voice to continue presenting music for healing. I want to work with musicians who share their music with compassion and love, so their notes—our music—reach the hearts and spirits of our audience. Our city was that place, not so long ago,” says Oliver. “Musicians deserve to live decently and have the ability to care for themselves and their families.”

“Continuing my mission as a healer, I see using this music to help people heal. Heal their minds, hearts and spirits. Jazz is the healing force—my mantra.”

Oliver is part of the inaugural cohort of Jazz Philadelphia’s CORE Cooperative, a program that seeks to bring together mutually supportive cohorts of musicians to develop entrepreneurship and wellness plans. Her grounding presence in the group and elsewhere is an asset to Philadelphia’s resilient jazz community. 

She says that for her, CORE fills a gap, particularly at this moment. “I’ve come to a point in developing my presence in the music community of Philadelphia where I need to learn the other important aspects of the music industry—-develop strong relationships with members of this brilliant community,” Oliver says.

“Learning the aspects of the music business, polishing my rough edges,” says Oliver, “[CORE] will give me exactly what I need to be more confident in my vision going forward, and in a most honest, capable manner, develop relationships and collaborations based on humanism and a true desire to see everyone win.”

Oliver has a broad circle of care for her own journey. “My community consists of family, friends, co-workers, friends of friends, and lots of people that I’ve met on my journey since 2015. I’ve not been in this music life for a longtime, but while I was working in my profession as a registered nurse, my heart was always here in music. I kept my dream of being a performer to myself and never let go of the fact that once I ended my career as a nurse, singing would be my life. So, my new career as a vocalist has surprised many family members and close friends, but all are very supportive of my endeavors.”

She wants now on this new journey to balance her own desire for high-levels of performance with lifting up the community. “I want to grow my musicianship and maximize my potential as a performing artist and as a curator of relevant jazz shows in order to keep the flame of this sacred music alive,” says Oliver. “I want to use my gift to celebrate those who I’m fortunate enough to have in my audience as well as the wonderful musicians who have supported me on this incredible musical journey.”

When asked about the obstacles facing the jazz community, her positive spirit shines through. She can only muster a sentence or two about past challenges before she’s right back offering solutions or talking about the future. 

“Funding is the major issue in developing programs that could build Philadelphia up again as a jazz mecca. Discovering financial relief in the form of grants, organizations willing to fund these types of events, better sustainable funding for our public school systems, people, musicians willing to invest time and equity to see this ship leave the shore and sail confidently into our jazz future would be necessary.” Here, she has concrete proposals: Give tax breaks to businesses that present live music, and start working together. 

“As always, funding is the devil in the details, but I believe that collectively, we musicians can work together to be creative in securing finances. Let’s find the grant writers amongst us. Let’s write proposals and present them to the most unlikely funding sources.”

While she also identifies, “Obstacles such as the lack of music education in our schools, or the arts, in general” she also says, “there are plenty of opportunities to remedy this by musicians hosting events during Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and Jazz Appreciation Month.” 

She wants to leverage focused times of the year like these to make an impact. “These are invaluable opportunities to engage our youth K-12, as well as college level in the culture and legacy of jazz,” says Oliver. “These gems of opportunity can also be incorporated in church activities during these specific months and take the form of The Jazz Vespers services dedicated to the cultural relevance of this sacred music and education as it relates to its saving grace over the years. Engaging senior community centers is especially important to keep the older adult population healthy, as this is the music they lived by in their younger lives.”

She says that she remembers a time when Philadelphia was bursting with activity at jazz clubs all around the city. “My hopeful vision for Philadelphia as a jazz city flows with my fondest memories of a time when you couldn’t go a city block without hearing jazz emanating from a club, bar or a house. I hope that there will be more venues and better access to this artform.” She wants to see “that jazz is available seven days a week as it was in Philadelphia’s jazz past. I want to see us hold the jazz banner high and continue to be the stop that every musician must makes while on their journey to ‘Jazzdom.’”

For Oliver, investing in Philadelphia is non-negotiable. “Philadelphia is my home. I would do all that I could to support efforts to ensure that jazz endures in Philadelphia. I see myself as an ambassador or troubadour for the music, a collaborator with established and aspiring jazz musicians. An advocate for community participation with youth, family and senior citizens,” she says.

“Philadelphia is my home. I would do all that I could to support efforts to ensure that jazz endures in Philadelphia. I see myself as an ambassador or troubadour for the music, a collaborator with established and aspiring jazz musicians. An advocate for community participation with youth, family and senior citizens.”

She’s already done work to honor Philadelphia’s jazz roots by creating a 2021 tribute concert to Justine Keeys and Pearl Williams, who she calls, “two of Philadelphia’s premier jazz vocalists.” Oliver said she wanted to honor “their tireless efforts to give vocalists a seat at the proverbial music table. These lovely women have mentored many of the vocalists in Philadelphia, including me over the years, personally and through their example of professionalism, talent and class.” The concert was held at the Community Education Center in West Philadelphia and with Leo Gadson from the Producer’s Guild as a partner. She leaned on Aaron Graves as its music director, and drew in a host of well-known players on the scene: Nasir Dickerson, Lee W. Smith, Harry “Butch” Reed, and fellow vocalists Wendy Simon and Barbara Walker.

The success of the program is a harbinger of things to come. “I want to grow a new generation of jazz in our city,” she says. In order to do that, she thinks we need to rebuild culture. She wants to see, “a culture that will continue to flourish giving birth to innovation and education not only in music but in entrepreneurship.” 

Her nursing background shows up in the way she talks about bringing Philadelphia back to healthy, vibrant form. “There should be a heartbeat of music in our schools, a way to show how music affects every aspect of our lives when presented regularly. After all, art and culture are the pillars of any society. When these are not in place, society suffers and the grace with which all human beings should live—once removed—can lead us to a very dark place. I want to continue to illuminate our lives with the light of music.” 

“There should be a heartbeat of music in our schools, a way to show how music affects every aspect of our lives when presented regularly. After all, art and culture are the pillars of any society. When these are not in place, society suffers and the grace with which all human beings should live—once removed—can lead us to a very dark place. I want to continue to illuminate our lives with the light of music.” 

To get there, she’ll work hard, pray hard, and allow herself to be vulnerable. “I pray deeply and powerfully. I might even cry, to relieve the pressure, but I don’t give up. I don’t go to the dark side, because it only gets darker,” says Oliver. 

“I realize that things get hard because I’m doing the right thing,” she says. As a nurse, she kept death itself at bay night after night, and so the spiritual darkness that can engulf us is no match for her.  

“The universe tests my resolve to see if I meant what I said. And I respond with a smile and more determination than before. I remember that singing, performing, and making music is my mission and I can’t let anything get in my way. I’ve waited a long time to use my voice for peace, and this is my time now,” says Oliver. “I refuse to be defeated.”

Follow her on social media @gerisjazz7

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Jazz Philadelphia is proud to have Geraldine Oliver in the inaugural cohort of the CORE Cooperative, an entrepreneurship, leadership, and wellness program for jazz artists and advocates. For more information, visit Jazz Philadelphia.

“I want to use my gift to celebrate those who I’m fortunate enough to have in my audience as well as the wonderful musicians who have supported me on this incredible musical journey.”