Fay Victor Explained

Fay Victor
Landscape:	yes
Birth Date:	26 July 1965^[1]
Birth Place:	Brooklyn, New York City, United States
Occupation:	Musician, composer, lyricist
Label:	ESP Disk, Greene Ave Music, Timeless Records, ArtistShare

Fay Victor (born July 26, 1965)^[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.

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,^[5] 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.^[6] In 1996, Victor settled in Amsterdam, the Netherlands^[7] and performed and toured through the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Russia, and India.^[8] 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,^{[9] [10]} Jazz Times,^{[11] [12]} and Down Beat.^{[13] [14] [15] [16]}

Music

Victor has coined the term "freesong" to describe her vocal approach. In her jazz repertoire, Victor has specialized in the work of Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman and Herbie Nichols.^[17]

Activism

Victor is co-director of the TalkRace forum^[18] and is a member of the "We Have Voice" collective.^{[19] [20] [21]}

Discography

As leader/co-leader

!Title!Artist!Year!Label

Life Is Funny That Way	Fay Victor's Herbie Nichols SUNG	2024	TAO Forms^[22]
Blackity Black Black is Beautiful	Fay Victor	2023	Northern Spy Records^[23]
We've Had Enough!	Fay Victor's SoundNoiseFUNK	2020	ESP Disk^[24]
Barn Songs	Fay Victor	2019	Northern Spy^[25]
In My Own Room	Fay Victor	1998	Timeless Records^[26]
Darker Than Blue	Fay Victor	2001	Timeless Records^[27]
Should We Do This Again?	Fay Victor	1995	Groovie Sound
Lazy Old Sun	Fay Victor	2004	Greene Ave Music^[28]
Wet Robots	Fay Victor's SoundNoiseFUNK	2018	ESP Disk
Kaiso Stories	Other Dimensions In Music with Fay Victor	2010	Silkheart^[29]
Absinthe & Vermouth	Fay Victor Ensemble	2013	Greene Ave Music
The FreeSong Suite	Fay Victor Ensemble	2009	Greene Ave Music
Cartwheels Through The Cosmos	Fay Victor Ensemble	2007	ArtistShare^[30]
Bare	The Exposed Blues Duo (with Anders Nilsson)	2010	Greene Ave Music^[31]
New York/Sankt Johann	ReDDeer (with Elisabeth Harnik & Dominic Lash)	2017	Evil Rabbit^[32]

As featured artist/sideperson

!Title!Artist!Year!Label

West Coast Blues	Gregor Hilden	1998	Acoustic Music Records^[33]
Aces of Swing: A Tribute to the Music of John Kirby & Charlie Shavers	Robert Veen Sextet	1996	Basta Basta
Trombone for Lovers	Roswell Rudd	2013	Sunnyside^[34]
Embrace	Roswell Rudd	2017	Rare Noise Records^[35]
The Invisible Blow	Ab Baars Trio + NY guests	2014	Stichting Wig^[36]
Trillium E	Anthony Braxton	2011	New Braxton House^[37]
Glorious Ravage	Liza Mezzacappa	2017	New World Records^[38]
The Jazz Lounge Trio Meets...	Jazz Lounge Trio	2000	Laika Records^[39]
Songs of Resistance - 1942-2018	Marc Ribot	2018

Notes and References

1. Web site: Fay Victor @ All About Jazz. Jazz. All About. All About Jazz Musicians. 26 March 2018.
2. Web site: Fay Victor @ All About Jazz. Jazz. All About. All About Jazz Musicians. 26 March 2018.
3. News: CareFusion, Vision, Undead and Other Jazz Fests. Ratliff. Ben. June 10, 2010. The New York Times. 25 March 2018. 0362-4331.
4. News: Fay Victor gives free rein to jazz vocals. San Francisco Chronicle. 25 March 2018.
5. Book: Giving Birth To Sound. Buddy's Knife. 2015. 978-3-00-049279-2. Koln, Germany. 248–253.
6. Web site: Fay Victor Biography & History AllMusic. AllMusic. 25 March 2018.
7. Web site: Fay Victor Opening New Doors. March 25, 2018.
8. Web site: Biography – Fay Victor. fayvictor.com. 25 March 2018.
9. News: Abbey Lincoln's Style Influences New Set of Recordings. Chinen. Nate. August 27, 2010. The New York Times. 25 March 2018. 0362-4331.
10. News: New Works by Shrinebuilder, Fay Victor, Coati Mundi, Francesco Cafiso and Junk Culture. Ratliff. Ben. October 7, 2009. The New York Times. 25 March 2018. 0362-4331.
11. News: Fay Victor Ensemble: Absinthe & Vermouth . JazzTimes. 25 March 2018.
12. News: Other Dimensions in Music featuring Fay Victor: Kaiso Stories . JazzTimes. 25 March 2018.
13. News: Winter Jazzfest Gilded with Guitarists and Vocalists. January 17, 2018. Down Beat. 25 March 2018.
14. News: Roswell Rudd Feted at 82nd Birthday Bash. November 28, 2017. Down Beat. 25 March 2018.
15. Web site: Downbeat 1403 Digital Edition. March 25, 2018.
16. Web site: DownBeat Reviews. Down Beat. 25 March 2018.
17. News: Sound It Out: "20 Questions" #2 — Fay Victor. September 15, 2017. Sound It Out!. 25 March 2018.
18. Web site: FAY VICTOR / TYSHAWN SOREY. CACOPHONY. 25 March 2018.
19. Web site: we have voice. wehavevoice.org. 25 March 2018.
20. News: Women Fighting Sexism in Jazz Have a Voice. And Now, a Code of Conduct.. April 30, 2018. The New York Times. 7 May 2018. 0362-4331.
21. News: A Map to the Line, And How Not To Cross It: A Code Of Conduct For The Performing Arts. NPR. 7 May 2018.
22. Web site: Life Is Funny That Way - TAO Forms. taoforms.bandcamp.com//. 28 July 2024.
23. Web site: Blackity Black Black Is Beautiful - Northern Spy Records. northernspyrecs.com/. 28 July 2024.
24. Web site: ESP-Disk'. espdisk.com. 25 March 2018.
25. Web site: Barn Songs - Northern Spy Records. northernspyrecs.com/. 20 November 2019.
26. Web site: Jazz is Timeless Records – Fay Victor – In My Own Room. timelessjazz.com. 25 March 2018. July 21, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180721191919/http://www.timelessjazz.com/album/1301996852. dead.
27. Web site: Jazz is Timeless Records – Fay Victor – Darker Than Blue. timelessjazz.com. 25 March 2018. July 21, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180721191941/http://www.timelessjazz.com/album/1301996859. dead.
28. Web site: Lazy Old Sun, by Fay Victor. Fay Victor. 25 March 2018.
29. Web site: Silkheart Records presents the New American Jazz.. silkheart.se. 25 March 2018.
30. Web site: Cartwheels Through The Cosmos, by The Fay Victor Ensemble. The Fay Victor Ensemble. 25 March 2018.
31. Web site: Bare, by Exposed Blues Duo. Exposed Blues Duo. 25 March 2018.
32. Web site: err26: new york – st. johann – reddeer Evil Rabbit Records. evilrabbitrecords.eu. 25 March 2018.
33. Web site: Gregor Hilden Feat. Fay Victor – Westcoast Blues. November 9, 1998 . discogs. 25 March 2018.
34. Web site: Trombone For Lovers, by Roswell Rudd. Sunnyside Records. 25 March 2018.
35. Web site: RareNoiseRecords – rudd-victor-harris-filiano. RareNoiseRecords. 25 March 2018.
36. Web site: Ab Baars – discography. Kappers. Arjan. stichtingwig.com. 25 March 2018. July 21, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180721162314/http://stichtingwig.com/abBaars/discographyAbBaars/discographyAbBaars.html. dead.
37. Web site: Trillium E, by Anthony Braxton. New Braxton House. 25 March 2018.
38. Web site: New World Records: Album Details. newworldrecords.org. 25 March 2018. December 29, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171229040430/http://www.newworldrecords.org/album.cgi?rm=view&album_id=94782. dead.
39. Web site: cdpressemeets. muenster.org. 25 March 2018.