The term “Black Swan” has taken on a few different meanings in pop culture. We saw the 2010 psycho-thriller starring Natalie Portman, and her descent into madness as she pirouettes through Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. But perhaps the most ubiquitous use of the term stems from the world of high finance – the disproportionate impact of rare, unpredictable outlier events (Black Swans) on our human experience.

Usually only the catastrophic Black Swan events attract attention. The credit crisis or the pandemic comes to mind. But Black Swans can also be beneficial - the stroke of luck, the surge of inspiration, the miracles that can happen when all stars align.

This aim towards transcendence is what inspired 37-year-old Angelo to create The Black Swann band five years ago. The name “Black Swann” carries a double meaning for him. “Swann” is his last name, but as a trained professional accountant, he sees the group’s real purpose in the business definition.

He is familiar with tail risks. “The market here in the Bahamas is not very predictable,” he said. “Going from something as predictable and safe as accounting to music was a huge risk, … but so is the payoff.”

Angelo began playing piano at age five but didn’t pursue the keys seriously until after college. Like many other Bahamians, the church was a huge factor in bringing out his musicality. “My dad is a pastor in the Pentecostal church. You’ll find that for about 90% of keyboardists in The Bahamas… their dad is a pastor.”

Today, his 10-piece core group is full of gifted young men from 18 to 37 years old. But this is just a side hustle for most, who are ready to make magic with their keyboard, bass, electric guitar, drums, saxophone, trumpet and trombone, following their day jobs as a pilot, entrepreneur, police officer, teacher, journalist, and accountant.

The band fuses soul, jazz, reggae, and R&B into a rich live experience, drawing inspiration from artists like Adam Blackstone, Mint Condition, and Jill Scott. They quickly earned a reputation for brassy, “sonic experiences” that are immersive and electrifying. Their performances were dazzling enough to earn them a regular spot at Baha Mar’s swanky Jon Batiste Jazz Club.

Black Swann are primarily a cover band, but they are exploring their creativity with longer improvisational rifts. “We’re starting to do our own instrumentals to expand on the normal crowd-pleasers like Earth Wind & Fire, etc.,” he said. He’s proud to admit that “Today we have about 250 songs in our repertoire.” Some of his favorites include “Just the Two of Us” (Bill Withers), “Outstanding” (The Gap Band), and “On and On” (Erykah Badu).

They’ve attracted a loyal following with almost 2,500 fans between Facebook and Instagram (@blackswannband). His long-term goal is to create sustainable platforms for music in the Bahamas.

What inspires him to keep going? It could be his 7-month-old baby girl Lilo, who’s already expressing daddy’s musical genes. “As soon as she hears music, she’s just movin’!”

He added with a smile, “It’s certainly not the money. Music helps me feel good. Before I ever knew what chords were, I knew what good music felt like.”

Unpredictable and powerful.