Fay Victor

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Fay Victor
Fay Victor 2016 (Annamarie Ursula) P1210950.jpg
Victor performing in 2016 in Cologne, Germany
Background information
Born (1965-07-26) July 26, 1965 (age 58) [1] [2]
Brooklyn, New York City, United States
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, lyricist
LabelsESP Disk, Greene Ave Music, Timeless Records, ArtistShare
Website fayvictor.com

Fay Victor (born July 26, 1965) [1] [2] is an American musician, composer, lyricist and educator. Originally a singer in the traditional jazz field, she has been working in jazz, blues, opera, free improvising, avant-garde, modern classical music, and occasional acting since re-settling in New York in 2003.

Contents

Early life and career

Victor was born in Brooklyn, New York City. [3] After spending her early childhood years in New York, Zambia, and Trinidad & Tobago, her mother settled in Long island, NY, where Victor spent her teenage years. [4] After her mother's sudden death, [1] Victor re-discovered music and singing, and after a 3-month stint at a club in Fukui City, Japan with pianist Bertha Hope, she decided to start a career as a jazz singer. [5] In 1996, Victor settled in Amsterdam, the Netherlands [6] and performed and toured through the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Russia, and India. [7] While living in the Netherlands, Victor branched out into blues, songwriting, and forms of improvising outside the standard jazz canon. Victor has lived in NYC since 2003. She has worked with the likes of Randy Weston, Roswell Rudd, Anthony Braxton, Misha Mengelberg, Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Sorey, Wadada Leo Smith, Nicole Mitchell, Marc Ribot, Martine Syms, Daniel Carter, William Parker, Darius Jones, Wolter Wierbos, Ab Baars, Joe Morris, Sam Newsome, Reggie Nicholson.

Victor's work has been reviewed in The New York Times, [8] [9] Jazz Times, [10] [11] and Down Beat. [12] [13] [14] [15]

Music

Victor has coined the term "freesong" to describe her vocal approach. [1] [4] In her jazz repertoire, Victor has specialized in the work of Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman and Herbie Nichols. [4] [16]

Activism

Victor is co-director of the TalkRace forum [17] and is a member of the "We Have Voice" collective. [18] [19] [20]

Discography

As leader/co-leader

TitleArtistYearLabel
We've Had Enough!Fay Victor's SoundNoiseFUNK2020ESP Disk [21]
Barn SongsFay Victor2019Northern Spy [22]
In My Own RoomFay Victor1998Timeless Records [23]
Darker Than BlueFay Victor2001Timeless Records [24]
Should We Do This Again?Fay Victor1995Groovie Sound
Lazy Old SunFay Victor2004Greene Ave Music [25]
Wet RobotsFay Victor's SoundNoiseFUNK2018ESP Disk [21]
Kaiso Stories Other Dimensions In Music with Fay Victor2010Silkheart [26]
Absinthe & VermouthFay Victor Ensemble2013Greene Ave Music
The FreeSong SuiteFay Victor Ensemble2009Greene Ave Music
Cartwheels Through The CosmosFay Victor Ensemble2007ArtistShare [27]
BareThe Exposed Blues Duo (with Anders Nilsson)2010Greene Ave Music [28]
New York/Sankt JohannReDDeer (with Elisabeth Harnik & Dominic Lash)2017Evil Rabbit [29]
TitleArtistYearLabel
West Coast BluesGregor Hilden1998Acoustic Music Records [30]
Aces of Swing: A Tribute to the Music of John Kirby & Charlie ShaversRobert Veen Sextet1996Basta Basta [31]
Trombone for Lovers Roswell Rudd2013Sunnyside [32]
Embrace Roswell Rudd2017Rare Noise Records [33]
The Invisible BlowAb Baars Trio + NY guests2014Stichting Wig [34]
Trillium EAnthony Braxton2011New Braxton House [35]
Glorious RavageLiza Mezzacappa2017New World Records [36]
The Jazz Lounge Trio Meets...Jazz Lounge Trio2000Laika Records [37]
Songs of Resistance - 1942-2018Marc Ribot2018

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References

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