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. At the beginning of the nineties, Ms. Victor began building a name for herself as a jazz vocalist around NY performing primarily jazz standards and blues. Gigs were picking up but it was close to impossible to make a living in New York and Victor wanted to develop her craft and perform more. Europe beckoned. In 1996, Victor made the move to Amsterdam, the Netherlands and lived in that city for nearly 8 years. The experience turned out to be a fruitful one as she used this time to study and hone her distinctive sound, her ear and widen her musical horizons and made the transition from a singer of standards to the unique vocal artist she has become today, based back in New York City since 2003. While living in the Netherlands, Victor expanded her performance repertoire as well into areas not commonly associated with jazz singing, mining the works of artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Randy Newman, The Kinks, The Doors, Jackie McLean, Eric Dolphy, Herbie Nichols, Debussy & Charles Mingus. She also started composing original material with collaborator, Jochem van Dijk. Starting with 2001’s Timeless release “Darker than Blue” (Timeless Records, 2001), 15 of their original pieces have been recorded including the pieces for the all-original program of Victor’s latest outing, “Cartwheels through the Cosmos” (ArtistShare 2007) with the Fay Victor Ensemble. This recording is incredibly unique for bringing together in one concise package: the vocal jazz tradition as a basis for improvising in the sense of Ornette Coleman/late Coltrane and beyond, held in check by an earthy soulfulness expressed through a focused set of originals that offer taut construction and witty lyrics. This is what Fay Victor has come to be about: embracing the gamut of musical expression in an effortless way and talking about the small details that mean so much to so many. “It's a borderless, cacophonous, in-your-face experiment in tone poetry and free-form expression. It's tough. It's gutsy. It's brilliant." - Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes Victor has appeared at venues/festivals including the Bowery Poetry Cub, The Stone, Zebulon, Galapagos Art Space, Barbes, CBGB’s, Enzo’s Jazz Café, Cornelia Street Café, Tonic, the 55 Bar, The HOWL Festival and the River to River Festival. Fay has performed with such notables as Dr.John, Odetta, Gloria Lynne, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Lawrence “Butch” Morris, Misha Mengelberg, Gary Lucas, Connie Crothers, Matana Roberts, Vijay Lyer, Michael Moore and Steve Coleman.
