Category: teaching

on by
FV Chamber Trio for BARN SONGS (Marika Hughes, FV, Darius Jones) by Jochem van Dijk

Here we are at the beginning of March 2020 already.  It seems like just last week I was saying Happy New Year to many of you! Here’s hoping you’re well and adjusting to this vibrant, dynamic and crazy world we are living through at this time. The feeling of deep chaos is swirling around, there’s so much pain as well. Yet there is great hope and the desire to fight for a better world. All around the world people are trying the best way they know how to fight for themselves and the greater ‘we’. I’m not quite sure what to think of this moment but it keeps me on my toes. I’m also better focused on what I can do to help create the world I want to see.  Connecting with many of you and others through music in this moment means so much more than it ever has.  Life and sharing are precious things.  I’m figuring out how to do more of the latter. Sending healing strength and love to you all.

This March I’m looking forward to sharing the music of BARN SONGS with many new faces and friends as we hot the road for shows in Newburgh, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Milwaukee, WI and Chicago, IL…with a big old CD release party at Joe’s Pub here in New York City. Thrilled to be able to take the great Darius Jones (alto sax) and Marika Hughes (cello) along for the ride. It just wouldn’t be the same without them! You can still purchase BARN SONGS via bandcamp and the Northern Spy website for starters. The BARN SONGS Tour ends in Chicago where I’ll stay on, honored to be a part of this year’s Exposure Series. In addition to the BARN SONGS Show, I’ll perform three more nights in different configurations. Excited. Just excited for it all.

Celebrating BARN SONGS!
Fay Victor Chamber Trio Tour
Fay Victor – voice, compositions
Marika Hughes – cello
Darius Jones -alto saxophone

WHEN/WHERE?
SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2020
8PM
Celebrating BARN SONGS
Jazz @ Atlas Studios
11 Spring Street
Newburgh, NY
Admission will be $20 in advance and $25 at the door
advance tickets are on sale now at https://fayvictor.brownpapertickets.com.

FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2020
NYC CD RELEASE for BARN SONGS!
JOE’S PUB
7PM – ONE SET ONLY
425 Lafayette Street (at Astor Place) 
New York, NY 10003
$15 advance / $20 at the door
https://publictheater.org/productions/joes-pub/2020/f/fay-victor-chamber-trio-barn-songs-cd-release/
There is a 2 drink or $12 food minimum, per person, during every show at Joe’s Pub.

SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2020
Fay Victor Chamber Trio
Celebrating BARN SONGS
Community Educational Center (CEC)
3500 Lancaster Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19104
8PM
Ticket Price: $20
–Please check www.fayvictor.com for more info

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25 2020
The Fay Victor  Chamber Trio
Celebrating BARN SONGS
8PM
The Sugar Maple
441 E Lincoln Ave
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
http://mysugarmaple.com/events/fay-victor-trio/

Celebrating BARN SONGS Tour Poster by Bill Mazza

THURSDAY, MARCH 26 2020
FAY VICTOR Chamber Trio|
Celebrating BARN SONGS
Elastic Arts
3429 W Diversey Ave, 2nd Fl
Chicago, IL 60647 USA
Fay Victor – vocals & compositions
Marika Hughes – cello
Darius Jones – alto saxophone
9 PM : Performance; 10:30 PM : Discussion w/the artists
https://elasticarts.org/event/exposure-series-2020-fay-victors-barn-songs/
This performance is part of the ExPosure Series, where Fay Victor has been one of 3 special guests and will stay on in Chicago after the end of the Barn Songs tour.

FV continuing on in Chicago as part of the ExPosure Series 2020:
FRIDAY, March 27 2020
9PM VICTOR/REED DUO
FV – voice, sounds
Mike Reed – drums

SATURDAY March 28, 2020
11 PM : VICTOR/OTIS/WING/MCBRIDE/RA
FV – voice, sounds
Julian Otis – vocals
Alex Wing – guitar/oud
Nate McBride – bass
Avreeayl Ra – percussion

SUNDAY March 29, 2020
9 PM : VICTOR/”MADAS”/MCBRIDE
FV – voice, sounds
“Maya Madas” – piano
Nate McBride – bass
@ The Hungry Brain – 2319 W. Belmont Ave.
https://elasticarts.org/events/

Creative Improv Sessions start SUNDAY, March 15 2020

Sure hope to see you out there in these great spaces in the groovy places such as Upstate NY, Philadelphia (PA), Milwaukee (WI) and Chicago, IL! Kindly spread the word. Thank you! Thanks for reading and catching on the month’s performances.
**John Pietaro at the New York Jazz Record had some nice words for BARN SONGS in his review:
“Her uncanny ability to compose, shred and reconstruct haunting melodies is heard anew on this latest work, recorded by her Chamber Trio in a barn 160 miles north of the city. The outcome is arguably spiritual. With nary an effect standing between her voice, the cello of Marika Hughes and alto saxophone of Darius Jones, Victor begets an alluringly beautiful set of original improvisational works (composed in tandem with partner Jochem van Dijk) capturing equally the traditions of lieder, chamber jazz and African American art song.”
Check this and more in the new issue of the NYC Jazz Record: http://www.nycjazzrecord.com/

On a final note – for all you budding improvisors out there, I’m starting a new initiative called the Creative Improv Sessions. Simple really. we’ll get together once a month for a couple hours just to improvise and deepen our practice. I’ll guide if you come. Need four vocalists to run a session as a minimum. First Session is Sunday, March 15, 2020, please email me at lessons@fayvictor.com to sign-up!

Take care out there,
Fay

on by
FV first ever Stone Residency honoring the 100 birthday of pianist/composer Herbie Nichols

Dear Friends,

2019 started with a BANG! January was an intense month that at moments I wondered if I’d get through! 

January started off with my first curation of The Stone dedicated to the 100th birthday celebration of the incredible pianist/composer Herbie Nichols which to my mind was a resounding success. Wonderful houses all four nights, an amazing preview (with FV photo to boot!) in the New York Times, so much love throughout from the community including the generosity of the musicians that gave their time and the amazing folks that came out, some from as far away as DC and continued to come every night. I am so grateful to everyone’s show of support over the work of Nichols’ genius and I for one was thrilled to sit through the deep immersion into his musical world.

After this celebration, I went to Chicago for a day of events at the Graham Foundation for the Fine Arts including amazing duo set with drummer/impresario Mike Reed + a workshop on Vocal confidence.  This was all attributed to the amazing exhibit of Martine Syms, who’s work I’m happy to be a part of. Martine had a FIVE month exhibition at the Graham and these events were on of the culminating events of her run.

We Have Voice, the 14 member collective that launched a Code of Conduct for the Performing Arts were Keynote Speakers at the Chamber Music America Annual Conference 2019.

Then on to WinterJazzFest with Mutations for Justice + a wonderful set with Maria Grand!! I’m so excited about this project and much more to come on this front in the near future. What I can share is I’ve been honored to receive a Headlands Residency to finish this project.  Our performance at the WinterJazzFest made it in to Rolling Stone magazine as one of the Top 10 moments of the Winter JazzFest 2019. Wow. 

Some other amazing happening in January: joining Matana Roberts and Jaimie Breezy Branch open up the season at the Issue Project Room, being part of two panels with We Have Voice (WHV): The Jazz & Gender Panel on the Winter Jazz Fest and the one half of the Keynote Speakers at the Chamber Music America Conference. Acclaimed author & scholar Ta-nehisi Coates was the other.

Last but far from least – I officially joined the faculty of the New School in New York City, currently teaching Vocal Performance 5 in the Vocal Performance department. I’m still getting settled but already enjoying the students and the work! Check this lovely piece on Medium talking about the new faculty and I’m honored to be included…check it out here!

Check out the GIGS link to check out all the gig news for FEB and beyond! Been updating upcoming performances as they come in.

Please note there’s no 55BAR this month but back at on THURS, MAR 28 2019.
Thanks for reading friends!
Wishing you love, music, safety and peace!

Mutations for Justice! A wonderful set on the WinterJazz Fest and much more to come. l-r Michael Vatcher (drums), Luke Stewart (double bass), Jaimie Breezy Branch (trumpet), Mazz Swift (violin)

on by

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! (Photo taken in Mexico City, Mexico)

Greetings and Happy Holidays to you all! Wishing everyone a wondrous holiday season and a prosperous and positive 2019.  2018 has been some year on the world stage with a swift wind change right in politics around the world.  Watching the news makes everything seem grim or how it all is coming to a dismal end.  Climate change notwithstanding, there is still lots of positivity around the world.  People trying to enjoy and simplify their lives as best they can.  I spent most of the autumn in amazing cities: Seattle, San Francisco, Long Beach, Rome, Venice, Krakow, Poland and Mexico City. Everywhere the similar thread was so many homeless among the opulence. Affluent folk peering in at the lives of people either catering to their whims or somehow superficially related to outside perceptions. Yet I also met people happy with their lives as is. Content. At peace. No longer searching if they ever were.  Except for music, maybe, in time of need. I was amazed to discover in Mexico that anyone can sing with Mariachi musicians and people DO when they are sad or full of heartbreak over jilted lover. This is how normal folk come out to relieve themselves of the pain of loss and more, in community. One example of how it is still a big beautiful world out there and if you can, go out and taste it.

After all this moving around, I’m firmly planted back in NYC for sometime and so much good stuff is coming up.  January is chock full of goodies including the Herbie Nichols Centennial Celebration at The Stone that I’m honored to curate + my Mutations for Justice project is on the Winter JazzFest January 12th 2019 at SOB’s. Before we hit 2019, please join me at the 55BAR for the last performance of the year: at the 55BAR with Old Songs, New Skin. Come and join us for a toast to kissing 2018 goodbye!

DEC 27 Old Songs, New Skin
FV – voice, compositions
Marika Hughes – cello
Darius Jones – alto saxophone
55 Bar
55 Christopher Street
7-9PM
No Cover, 2 drink minimum

Old Songs, New Skin!(Marika Hughes, FV, Darius Jones)

Seriously though,  sending the best wishes for a safe, fun and rewarding holiday season + a spanking new and prosperous 2019. I am so grateful for everyone’s support this year of the music and projects I’m involved in and coming out to shows. I could not do what I do without working with and in front of great people.  Incredible to be on record with Marc Ribot, Nicole Mitchell and my own SoundNoiseFUNK in 2018, amazed that all of these projects were well received by music lovers as well as the critics.

Thank you, thank you friends!
In gratitude,
Fay

 

on by

Labor day weekend…for many a death knell to the end of summer.  Life gets back to its normal rigor. Well, I’m asking what IS normal anymore, if there ever was such a thing.  Seasons start to matter less as global warming creates a muddy connection. And American politics has flowered into a cruelty and blatancy not seen in my lifetime anyway. I’m not surprised at the reasons we’re here just surprised that we actually let it happen.  So going ‘back’ to normal seems nostalgic or maybe the want of a memory that didn’t exist anyway. And how normal can any world feel with Aretha Franklin and now Randy Weston gone?

Strange times to be and feel positive yet I have to try. Keep moving on into worlds and spaces that feel enriching and open possibilities for what might be possible.  This idea is at work this month with a new recording project of old material that Jochem van Dijk and I wrote when we began our writing life together at the end of the 90’s. Before the compositions for the Fay Victor Ensemble and back when our song forms resembled many others. Revisiting these songs with Darius Jones (alto saxophone) and Marika Hughes (cello) at the 55BAR the last few years has been a revelation in how much I still love these tunes and how now and within this sound world, they seem brand new.  I look forward to sharing this when it comes out in 2019. Here is a video taken by Gerald van Wilgen that captures the special 55BAR vibe…and some surprises:

Deeper into September I’ll delve into another sound world for a first time performance with pianist extraordinaire Myra Melford, performing both of our music as well as improvising with Marika Hughes joining us on SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 at the Greenwich House.  Back at the 55BAR on September 27th with SONGS We LOVE (w Sean Conly & Michael Vatcher), closing out the month on the InGardens in DUO with bassist Brandon Lopez – a first!

CREATIVE IMPROV WORKSHOP IV is coming up soon too, starting September 18 2018 for over 4 consecutive TUESDAYS at I-BEAM in Brooklyn, NY. Click the link HERE to learn more about the course and spread the word.  Or drop an email to lessons@fayvictor.com

*In other SEPT news, A new Marc Ribot record is coming out this month and I am delighted to perform three songs on Songs of Resistance, an album of old and new protest songs with guest artists such as Steve Earle, Meshell Ndegeocello, Tom Waits and more. This will be epic.

Wet Robots!!

The word is getting out about my latest release with SoundNoiseFUNK – WET ROBOTS (ESP-Disk) with some great feedback on the press front.  Fantastic that so far people not only dig the music but really get what we do as a group. after the quotes, checkout the links to purchase/listen and share this music.  Will add a clip from WinterJazzFest 2018 at the end.

Cover for the new Espdisk Release WET ROBOTS, design by Diane Kirschief

4 ½ STARS – Downbeat Magazine
“Wet Robots is a program of thoughtful particulars, but it’s Victor’s acrobatics that mesmerize. Unabashed when it comes to sound creation, one can hear the passion in every syllable she utters, whether manic or modest. With echoes of Lauren Newton and Meredith Monk, the singer builds a web of personalized pieces that boast exuberance, with each warble, shriek and roar crafting a ferocious identity. Informed by blues and politics, their cagey deployment is downright entrancing, especially when bolstered by this kind of collective clout.”
–Jim Macnie, Downbeat Magazine (+HotBox), October 2018

“Singer Fay Victor is the solution to so many “What is the role of the singer in jazz today?” puzzles. The role, Victor proves throughout Wet Robots, is anything at all, anything the imagination allows.
…On a third or fourth pass through this remarkable document—and what can only be called a narrowly focused part of Fay Victor’s art, as she has fronted many bands with many different instrumentations and approaches—I felt I needed to rethink what “jazz” singing really could or ought to be so many years after talents like Betty Carter, Nina Simone, and Cassandra Wilson had dared to begin redefining it. Victor is at another level of freedom and daring and creativity. Sure, this kind of music is at the arty margin, but Victor proves that this kind of abstract singing is also flesh and blood and heart and earth.
‘I sing to save my life / I sing to look human’, Fay Victor makes clear.”
–Will Layman, Popmatters (8/10)

“This record stands out from the usual free jazz gestures and credit belongs to Victor. It’s not just that this is her band, but her unique singing concept leads the way. She has a familiar toolbox of vocal sounds, but it’s the way she uses her notes that matter—she has exceptional intonation and it sounds like it comes effortlessly, so she improvises with pitches and melodically logical and coherent tonal phrases. On top of that, she manages the challenging high-wire act of improvising text while always keeping it interesting and fresh. It’s a measure of a first-rate intelligence— take that F. Scott Fitzgerald.”…As abstract as most of this is, the earth of the blues comes through almost every track, often with power…”
—George Grella, NYCJR, September 2018

Check out & Purchase Wet Robots
—www.espdisk.com
—bandcamp

Thanks for reading and see you out there!

Fay

on by 1 Comment

CREATIVE IMPROVISATION WORKSHOP IV by Fay Victor
Four TUESDAYS: September 18, 25; October 2, 9 2018
12 Hours over 4 weeks
6-9PM each session

I BEAM
168 7th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(between 2nd & 3rd Avenues)
+
FINAL Concert @ IBEAM
for all the participants
SUNDAY, October 14th @5PM
Sign-up to hold your spot – lessons@fayvictor.com
signup & payment due by
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Course fee: $250.00
(Payable by Paypal, Zelle or by Check)
Course fee: $250.00 

About the Creative Improvisation Workshop

Vocalists will learn, discover and explore their voices, leaving the course with tangible tools for improvising inside, outside, alongside songs and beyond with an improvising vocalist with over 15 years of experience as an improvisor performing with everyone from Marshall Allen (Sun Ra) to Dr. Randy Weston with Anthony Braxton, Archie Shepp, Roswell Rudd, Misha Mengelberg, William Parker and Wadada Leo Smith in between.

During the CREATIVE IMPROVISATION WORKSHOP you’ll experience how to develop language, listen, and interact with instrumentalists as an improvisors cultivating your own creations within an improvised context.  The course will feature instrumentalists to work with participants during the course, also a group for the final concert.

A Testimonial
“The Creative Improvisation Workshop allowed me to step out of my mind and into the depths of my feelings. What I’ve learned most from the experience is that being in the moment, both still and actively listening, brought out my true artistic expression. Fay provided a foundation for us in the form of technique and improvisational language. But, the heavy focus that I normally apply to my singing was lessened because I was trusting in the moment. As a result, the technique and language followed. I encourage all singers to jump into the experience, step out of their norm and find their whole creative selves. Sharing this experience with other women also added a spiritual element that is not always present in traditional jazz workshops.I am looking forward to the next time.”