Fay Victor - Vocals
Everyone can sing (beginners)Jazz Vocal Workshop (intermediate/advanced)
Biography
“A vocalist suited to stand up against any horn” -Kurt Gottschalk, AllAboutJazz-NY October 2010
In command, infectious, energetic and strong: Fay Victor hypnotizes audiences, whether she sings a blues, sculpts a free piece, reinvents a Herbie Nichols tune through her own lyrics, or effortlessly scats over the harmonies of a jazz standard. Her musicality is deft and the words (usually hers) speak of universal themes in story-driven ways, running the full gamut of human emotion in an original mix of traditional song forms and free improvisation – she prefers to call it “FreeSong” – that has become her trademark approach to improvised vocal music. This trademark has garnered the Fay Victor Ensemble’s last release, The FreeSong Suite, as The Jazz Session’s Jason Crane’s TOP Pick for 2009, 4th Place in the Village Voice Jazz Critics Poll and a spot on the best of lists in AllAboutJazz-New York for 2009 Best Vocal Releases. Tremendous attention for an all-original avant-garde vocal project. Moreover, Victor’s latest release, Bare, a stripped down naked approach to the blues and blues based music with guitarist Anders Nilsson (or the ExPosed Blues Duo) has garnered fresh applause for her interpretations of some known and not-s0-known tunes and led the New York Times’ jazz critic Nate Chinen to call the album “excellent” during its inclusion to that paper’s moving tribute to Abbey Lincoln’s passing in August 2010.
At the beginning of the nineties, Ms. Victor began building a name as a jazz vocalist around NY performing primarily jazz standards and blues. After navigating the city clubs for a few years and having formed her first working trio, Victor needed a fresh start and more work and followed the call the Europe. Victor made Amsterdam, the Netherlands her home, living in that city for nearly 8 years. The experience was a fruitful one. Victor used this time to study and hone her distinctive sound, her ear and widen her musical horizons that made the transition from a singer of standards to the unique vocal artist she has become today, a vocalist coming from the jazz tradition as a basis for improvising in the sense of Ornette Coleman/late Coltrane and beyond contrasted by an earthy soulfulness expressed through originals that offer taut construction and witty lyrics. Ms Victor voice and approach is about embracing the gamut of musical expression in an effortless way and talking about the small details that mean so much to so many.
“artistically complete”
-Ben Ratliff, The New York Times-June 2010
Victor returned home to New York City in 2003 and since then has been one of the most active vocalist on the scene, stretching her voice around the city, touting her groups into clubs, constantly developing new material and forging new collaborations that have taken her as far away as Moscow, Russia.
Victor has appeared at venues/festivals including the BAMCafe Live, The Stone, Roulette/Location One, The Bimhuis (Amsterdam, The Netherlands),Poklad (Gdynia, Poland), Galapagos Art Space, Barbes, CBGB’s, The Vision Festival Series, MusikTrienniale, FireHouse 12, Cornelia Street Café, Issue Project Room, Tonic, 55 Bar, The HOWL Festival, The Vision Festival and the River to River Festival. Outside the USA, Victor’s international appearances are extensive, having performed in the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Germany, France, Sweden, Austria, Andorra, Mexico, India, Poland, Russia & Japan. She has collaborated with musicians such Misha Mengelberg, Lawrence “Butch” Morris, Gary Lucas, Anthony Braxton, William Parker, Han Bennink, Steve Coleman, Roswell Rudd, Tim Daisy, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Vijay Iyer, reedist Michael Moore, Duck Baker, Connie Crothers, Tyshawn Sorey, Matana Roberts, Tomas Ulrich, Dom Minasi, Andrew Bemkey, John Hebert, Dean Bowman, Wolter Wierbos, Anton Goudsmit, Michael Vatcher, Curtis Clark , the ICP Orkest, Other Dimensions in Music, the Vince Giordino and Duke Ellington Orchestras. “Fay Victor has a rich, commanding voice that’s matched by a sense of adventure, like Betty Carter if that late singer hung around the current Downtown New York scene.” -Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader-April 2010
Victor was accepted by Art Omi International to be a 2010 Music Omi Fellow as well as being nominated in the Female Vocalist Category in the 58th Annual Downbeat Critic’s Poll, featured in the August 2010 issue. Besides performance engagements and teaching Ms. Victor curates an experimental weekly vocal series through RUCMA and Arts for Arts, Inc in New York City. The Evolving Voice Vocal Series focuses on vocalists with strong vocal personalities and clear musical & conceptual vision. The series has garnered acclaim from participants and audiences alike for its eclecticism and quality of programming. For more information on the series, please visit visionfestival.org or read the Evolving Voice piece on the front page of the FV website.
Discography
Leader:
Kaiso Stories, 2012
The exposed Blues duo - Bare, 2010
The FreeSong Suite, 2009
Cartwheels Through the Cosmos, 2007
Lazy Old Sun, 2004
Darker then Blue, 2001
Quotes
***** “Victor’s voice sonically melds with Carter and Campbell, becoming a third horn, adding compelling counterpoint throughout. In a civilized world with a forward thinking music industry and curious listenership, in a culture a where Art was as valued as everyone likes to say it is,Kaiso Stories would be a crossover sensation, charting for months and finding a grateful audience that no Improvised music had found before. Until such time, it is one for the initiated to treasure.” -Stanley Zappa, Free Jazz
”The meeting between ODIM and Fay Victor (or “connection” as caracterized by Fay Victor in her touching and illuminating liner notes) gives birth to a music like a swollen river, an awakened volcano which has been asleep too long, and is finally revived. This is music of heritage and music of urgency” -Pierre Lemarchand, Le Son de Grisli
“Fay dug deep into her roots in Trinidad and Tobago and came up with a handful of traditional songs to reinvent. What we have here is a blend of Caribbean melodies and swinging, fluid, occasionally ecstatic free jazz. This project is a complete success and a wonderful opportunity to discover this singer.” -Francois Couture, Monsieur Délire
“Fay Victor is a gifted musician, possessed of flawless intonation, musical imagination, and inventive phrasing…this album deserves a first, a second, and a third listening.” -William Grim, AllAboutJazz.com
“Sounds like a young Betty Carter with a bad case of wanderlust…a live set strong enough to win over all but the most anti-vocal jazz-fans…” -Kurt Gottschalk, Signal to Noise
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