Localized: Jazzy Olivo

On Tuesday, July 15, join SLUG for an intimate night of Latin R&B and jazz (with effortless pop influences) from Detzany and Jazzy Olivo, plus opening artist Chac Xol. SLUG Localized is sponsored by Riso-Geist and hosted at Kilby Court. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. and tickets are only $5!

Dominican-American Latin jazz artist Jazzy Olivo explores her roots in music and the singer-songwriter process as a local Salt Lake musician. Olivo grew up in the Dominican Republic (DR) and was raised around music. With her father as a mentor, Olivo was musically inclined from a young age. She has always been into music for as long as she can remember, with her neighbors in the DR complaining about her vocalizing with the pigeons as early as 6:00 a.m.

“I’ve always been the singer, the talker, the actor, the entertainer, the everything, but singing and music is what really connected me with everything.”

“I didn’t know what I was doing, I just knew what I was doing was amazing. It made my heart feel good. I knew I rhymed. I knew I was able to memorize things. I’ve always been the singer, the talker, the actor, the entertainer, the everything, but singing and music is what really connected me with everything,” Olivo says. At the age of 17, Olivo moved to Utah, where she pursued her music career with renewed vigor in hopes of a better life and a brighter future for herself.

Olivo was scouted to join the Latin reality TV show La Academia USA, representing the state of Utah. Eventually, she won sixth place in singing, then returned home to pursue further vocal studies and dive into her acting career in Mexico City, where she sang in Broadway productions such as Hairspray, Chicago and Aladdin.

“I lived [in Mexico City] for five years doing Broadway, and I came back home to Utah, and I said, ‘You know what? I am done being so many other characters — I want to be my own.’ I started writing new music, and here I am today,” Olivo says. By creating Latin jazz fusion music and incorporating elements such as Taino trumpets and bolero (a Cuban music style characterized by a slower tempo, strong rhythm and melody), Olivo can seamlessly integrate her Dominican roots into her songs, creating music that nourishes the soul.

“I can bring some more jazz or Mexican ballad[s] to give it that punch. It’s a world of music that is very effervescent and very passionate. It’s about life. It’s about resilience and all different levels and turning something usually dark into something melodic and beautiful,” Olivo says.

“It’s a world of music that is very effervescent and very passionate. It’s about life. It’s about resilience and all different levels and turning something usually dark into something melodic and beautiful.”

Olivo’s music is bilingual, incorporating both English and Spanish. She wants to introduce her culture and her native language to listeners, whether they understand it or not. Her main goal is for her listeners to be able to feel the music rather than try to dissect it as a whole. Olivo’s music process is quite unique as her synesthesia allows her to visualize notes or melodies, and she can manifest that imagery from her brain into her music for all to hear. Her songwriting process begins with a melody, and from there, it evolves as she adds a rhythm for the song.

Olivo experienced a period of silence in her music career following the passing of her partner, Courtney Isaiah Smith, a local jazz musician who co-founded Jazz Vespers, a weekly event hosted by First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City. Smith was and continues to be Olivo’s biggest motivation for creating new music. Smith had encouraged her to write down everything she was feeling and to convert her feelings into music; he was one of the reasons why she wrote her most recent song, “No.” Olivo is currently working on producing more music that Smith had left unfinished, including a song that features a duet of him and Olivo. “We have to put our hearts out there and his heart is in all of this music, and I think Courtney has more to enchant people with,” Olivo says.

Follow Jazzy Olivo on YouTube and Instagram at @jazzyolivomusic where she posts new music, upcoming shows and day-in-the-life, vlog-style videos. Join SLUG and other listeners at Olivo’s Localized performance on July 15 at Kilby Court, where she will be debuting “velvety wonder,” her first-ever love song dedicated to loving herself.

Read more SLUG Localized features here:
Localized: Sad Cowboy
Localized X GenderFuQ