West End music scene dynamo Patty V. (click images to enlarge) — West End music scene dynamo Patty V.
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PATTY V
The Grrrl Can’t Help It!

by Karen Petersen
Vocalist. Beat Poet. Producer. Philanthropist. Patty Verner has been belting ‘em out for nigh on eight decades now.

Patty was born in Welland, Ontario. Her mother’s side of the family was Welsh and her father’s was Irish, she had a vaudevillian uncle and her American grandmother conducted choir in Buffalo – no surprise, perhaps, that the love of music warbles through her veins.

She sang her first solo at the age of six for her church - “The Old Rugged Cross”.

Patty studied ballet, which cemented her love of Chopin, and tap – the rhythms of which greatly influenced her later scatting skills, which in turn impacted her beat poetry.

In addition to producing and performing musicals in high school, Patty, a natural athlete, worked at Prudhomme’s Landing Inn’s swimming complex during the summer days and sang with a trio of older musicians at night. Thus, she began her professional singing career at 16 years of age.

Patty V swinging from the rafters in a high school production.

And it was also here that she met her future husband with whom she moved to Detroit in 1966, where she lived (and sang) for close to 20 years. In addition to jazz, Patty sings blues, pop and classical. While in Detroit, she also belonged to the Detroit Symphony Junior Women’s Group where she enjoyed assisting in the discovery and introduction of young up-and-coming classical musicians.

Inspired by Sarah Vaughan, Patty studied the Bel Canto Method and in 1969, her teacher recommended her to the famed London Chop House (the same venue where Barbra Streisand polished her own chops) and there, Patty sang six nights a week for three-and-a-half years. She also sang at the Rhinoceros Club – jazz on Sundays. During this period, she met Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth who invited her to study and perform in London, England. But Patty had a husband and a young daughter and had to decline.

Fate, it would appear, had other things up its sleeve for her.

After her daughter married, Patty found herself in Vancouver in 1984. She was surprised to discover there was a very limited jazz scene and even more limited sources for musicians, particularly female musicians, to support themselves solely on their music. And so, Patty built a home with her new husband, Peter, got a straight gig at Kimberley-Clark, and ran a deluxe bed and breakfast from their new home at Grant and Commercial known as ‘The Little Green House on the Park” for a dozen seasons. However, she also completely relinquished performing for over a decade.

Patty V and Miles Black are The RetroNutz.

Not to say that she and Peter didn’t attend jazz clubs around Vancouver and not to say that she didn’t occasionally do a casual sit-in on sets when invited. She also continued studying the athleticism of singing and practicing arrangements under the guidance of various vocal coaches.

Patty also met and connected with such local jazz luminaries as legendary pianist Linton Garner, Bob Murphy, Corey Weeds and Miles Black, among many others. Patty eventually felt the yearning to return to the performing fold and Miles Black and Patty have subsequently become a duo called “The RetroNutz”. Ofttimes they become a quartet when joined by cellist-guitarist Finn Manniche, and vibraphonist and percussionist extraordinaire Nick Apivor. Look for their new CD in January/February 2021.

Miles has this to say about working with Patty: “Patty and I seem to thrive on experimenting with well-known material as well as learning songs and engaging in new spontaneous interpretations. The poetry that Patty adds is a dimension I’ve always been attracted to in the jazz art form....”

Before the COVID-19 plague, Patty organized (and taught others to organize) what she calls Home Concerts for Jazz Musicians wherein she sells tickets to concerts in her West End home and gives all the proceeds to the musicians she hires. The experiment has been wildly successful and with luck, will pick up again once the virus backs off.

This is a single example of Patty’s philanthropic outlook. She also established the Linton Garner Scholarship Fund at Capilano University, which is only one of the eight charities which she supports.

Sadly, Peter passed before he could witness the renaissance of Patty’s performing career, but still and all, Patty lives in deep gratitude for the way her remarkable life continues to evolve.