FAYVICTOR.COM is back on Track

PLEASE NOTE:

This entire wordpress site has been transferred and eventually (within the next month or so) this will become my blog… so all the news and info you wanna know is here:

www.fayvictor.com

Upcoming Gig at Barbes – October 15, 2009

So looking forward to play in Barbes again.  The Fay Victor Ensemble played there back in 2006 when reedist Michael Attias booked and ran a kick ass series called Night of the Ravished Limbs.  I have a feeling that the size, vibe  and intimacy of the room makes it a great nest to unfurl some burning blues in…

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2009

The ExPosed Blues Duo

FV-voice
Anders Nilsson-guitar
Barbes
8:00pm – One Set Only
$10 Cover
376 9th St. (corner of 6th Ave.)
Brooklyn, NY 11217 F Train to 7th Avenue
Barbes

Some sounds we’ve made here – www.myspace.com/exposedbluesproject

Jason Crane’s The Jazz Session # 95

Dear Friends…

Interview on the Jazz Session with Jason Crane is up!

http://thejazzsession.com/2009/10/12/the-jazz-session-95-fay-victor/

The New York Times has reviewed the FreeSong Suite!

Ben Ratlliff included The FreeSong Suite in Sunday’s Playlist in the New York Times!  I am thrilled and grateful…

“A jazz singer who makes her notes slow, wide and meaningful — she often sounds like an evening-out of Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln — Fay Victor uses a great and simple concept on “The FreeSong Suite” (Greene Avenue Music).”
Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/arts/music/11play.html?_r=1

Updates, gigs and podcasts – Oh My!

Dear Friends…

I’m writing from somewhat sunny Puerto Rico…here for a week to chill-ax and regroup after a hearty small run for the release of The FreeSong Suite in New York and Philly! We had great listening audiences and there has been so much love shown for the project along the way.  I want to send a big THANK YOU to all that came out, checked out the music and gave invaluable feedback which I LOVE.  Seems that I may be on to something here! Speaking of The FreeSong Suite, the reviews are starting to come in and on Monday, October 12th (Columbus Day) I am honored to be part of an esteemed list of guests on Jason Crane’s The Jazz Session. Jason has been an incredibly vocal advocate of the The FreeSong Suite and has already decided that its “easily on his top-10 list for 2009.”  Please checkout his site, if you don’t know it already, at www.thejazzsession.com. He’s also included The FreeSong Suite as one of five albums he’d give to a new listener of jazz…http://popdose.com/jazz-dont-hurt-five-recent-cds-for-new-listeners.  Also check out the entire conversation online at NPRJazz

The reviews are starting to roll in for The FreeSong Suite! Please check out the DISCOGRAPHY page to read more…

Finally the second half of October finds me leaving The FreeSong Suite repertoire for a couple stabs at the blues and an appearance with the poems of Golda Solomon on the Evolving Voice Vocal Series at the Local 269 (more on that soon…looking forward to sharing an update of the series in September).  Come out for the fun…

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2009

The Evolving Voice Vocal Series at the Local 269

Golda Solomon’s JazzHag Tour 2009/2010
Golda Solomon-words
Christopher Dean Sullivan – Bass
Michael TA Thompson – Drums
Joe Giardullo- Reeds
Fay Victor-vocals

@The Local 269

269 E. Houston Street @ Suffolk Street
F/V Train to 2^nd Avenue

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2009
Anders Nilsson and I join forces to chant and channel the blues with free improvisation. What will happen? Who can tell?  Come be a witness.

The ExPosed Blues Duo
FV-voice
Anders Nilsson-guitar
Barbes
8:00pm – One Set Only
$8 Cover 376 9th St. (corner of 6th Ave.)
Brooklyn, NY 11217 F Train to 7th Avenue
Barbes

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2009

Cellist Tomas Ulrich joined Anders and I at the Stone in August and it was a wailing, fiery night…we’ll add some fright for the Halloween festivities. You won’t wanna miss this…

The ExPosed Blues Duo meets Tomas Ulrich
for Halloween Scary Tales
FV -voice
Anders Nilsson-guitar
with Tomas Ulrich-cello
55Bar
55 Christopher Street
NY, NY
www.55bar.com
7:00-9:00PM/Early Set
No Cover, 1 drink minimum

I hope to see to see you out and I hope all is well with you in your world.  Let’s meet sometime soon on the musical tip…

The FreeSong Suite – CD Release Presentations

The Dia:Beacon, an Interview and the 55Bar!

Dear Friends,

This has been a hectic week!  This past Tuesday, The FreeSong Suite,  my latest release as a leader and the second for the Fay Victor Ensemble was let out in the world and Thursday I performed a through-composed piece, “Stuyvesant Reluctant” (Music: jochem van Dijk/libretto: Gerhardus van Wilgen) with three of my favorite musicians: Kyoko Kitamura,  Yoon Sun Choi (voices) and Tomas Ulrich (cello).  The piece paints snippets of  the Dutch heritage of Stuyvesant  and how that informed his life on American soil by three decidedly non-dutch immigrant vocalists.  This “pocket oratorio” was beautiful work for three voices plus we had the space of one of the most magnificent in the Dia:Beacon use as our backdrop: the Chamberlain Room. The experience was tougher than we thought as we sung acoustically but still glorious after all.

and on Friday I’ll be interviewed by Jason Crane of AllAboutJazz.com The Jazz Sessions, a popular podcast on the web! Learn more here and stay tuned to when it will air.  I’ll keep you posted.

And on Monday, my good friend and the wonderful tenor player Oleg Kireyev will be in New York and performing with me at the 55 Bar! This will be a fun gig performing standards and some free fare with Dom Minasi on guitar and Hill Greene on bass.  We’re on the Early Set.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2009

55 Bar
www.55bar.org
7:00-9:00PM/Early Set
No cover, 1 drink minimum
Twisted Standards and Free Explorations
FV-voice
Hilliard Greene – double bass
Dom Minasi – guitar
with special guest Oleg Kireyev – tenor & soprano sax

and on Thursday, October 1st please join the Fay Victor Ensemble at Roulette for the CD Presentation of the FreeSong Suite…more on that in a minute!

More info on the gentlemen:
kireyv.ru
domminasi.net
home.earthlink.net/~hilliardg

The FreeSong Suite Released Today

So excited about the release of the FreeSong Suite and to presenting to the world the evolution of the Fay Victor Ensemble and our approach to creative vocal music that we think is as accessible as it is challenging.  Legendary and eminent guitarist Gary Lucas wrote the liner notes and mentions that the record is “…hypnotic in its flow, every song in the three sections of the suite a masterpiece of compressed story-telling…”

We will celebrate the release on the first day of October at Roulette in New York and on Sunday, October 4^th at the Rotunda in Philadelphia.

The Fay Victor Ensemble is:
FV-voice, compositions
Anders Nilsson-guitar, effects
Ken Filiano-bass, effects
Michael ‘TA’ Thompson-drums

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2009
Fay Victor Ensemble CD Release “The FreeSong Suite”

8:30PM
Roulette 20 Greene Street
(between Canal and Grand Streets)
NY, NY
Reservations/Tickets: 212.219.8242
Admission: $15 Harvestworks & DTW members, Students, Under 30 & Seniors: $10
Roulette members / Location One members: FREE.
www.roulette.org

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2009
Fay Victor Ensemble CD Release “The FreeSong Suite”

5:00PM – One Set Only
The Rotunda 4012 Walnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Telephone: (215) 573-3234
www.therotunda.org

The FreeSong Suite is a recommended New Release in AAJ-NY
-Laurence Donahue-Greene, Managing Editor
September 2009 AAJ-NY

Purchase a copy or download a tune at
Amazon.com
CDbaby.com
Downtown Music Gallery

Upcoming Performances

A couple performances coming up…one historical and one nice and local but with an added foreign flavor.  I’ve also added a few early reviews of The FreeSong Suite which comes out next week Tuesday!   And our CD release is on October 1st at Roulette…(www.roulette.org)

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

The DIA:BEACON

http://www.diabeacon.org
A site specific work at the DIA:BEACON
“Stuyvesant Reluctant”
Pocket Oratorio for 3 voices and cello
Kyoko Kitamura
Yoon Sun Choi
Fay Victor
Tomas Ulrich

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2009

55 Bar
www.55bar.org
7:00-9:00PM/Early Set
No cover, 1 drink minimum
Twisted Standards and Free Explorations
FV-voice
Hilliard Greene – double bass
Dom Minasi – guitar
with special guest Oleg Kireyev – tenor & soprano sax

Save the date and please join us on…

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2009

Fay Victor Ensemble CD Release “The FreeSong Suite”
Roulette 20 Greene Street (between Canal and Grand Streets)
NY, NY
Reservations/Tickets: 212.219.8242
Admission: $15 Harvestworks & DTW members, Students, Under 30 & Seniors: $10
Roulette members / Location One members: FREE. www.roulette.org

Free Jazz from the Sanctuary Review

Fay Victor Ensemble DVD Reviewed in the DMG Music Gallery Newsletter

In April 2008, the Fay Victor Ensemble went on tour for the first time, performing a couple gigs Upstate New York.  One of the venues,  The Sanctuary for Independent Media,  in Troy, NY, offered the opportunity to record a DVD of the performance alongside the gig.  This was great news! The venue ended up received a grant for a 13-part series of jazz performance entitled Free Jazz from the Sanctuary videos featuring some of the world’s most talented improvisers such as Mary Halvorson, Taylor Ho Bynum, Amiri Baraka, William Hooker,  Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and the Fay Victor Ensemble.  Those DVD’s are available for sale at the Downtown Music Gallery and Bruce Gallanter wrote a review of the DVD in the store’s latest newsletter:

FAY VICTOR ENSEMBLE With ANDERS NILSSON/KEN FILIANO/MICHAEL THOMPSON -
Live At The Sanctuary [DVD] (MediaSanctuary; USA) Featuring Fay Victor/vocals, Anders Nilsson/guitar, Ken Filiano/double bass and Michael TA Thompson/drums.

When experimental jazz vocalist Fay Victor moved to NY a few years ago, little did I know that she would become a fave of those in the know from the downtown scene. I dig the way Fay starts off the first piece with a calm, enchanting solo vocal  intro. It does come from the long jazz vocal tradition of using your voice like an instrument before any recognizable words come it. Ms.Victor has chosen an excellent group of collaborators to work with. You can’t do too much better than Anders Nilsson, Ken Filiano & Michael Thompson. Fay occasionally reminds me of Betty Carter but perhaps goes a bit further out. Anders takes the first of a number of great guitar solos, fusion fans take note: he is the real thing with that swell sustained tone yet never overshadows Fay’s steamy voice. The guitar/bass/drums trio do a splendid job of surrounding and supporting Fay’s voice perfectly throughout this entire set.

Ander’s opening unaccompanied guitar solo on “Joe’s Car” is breathtaking and a  great way to begin this fine piece. Fay’s songs always tell little stories that are interesting to consider. The ever-amazing bassist Ken Filiano sounds wonderful and of course takes a couple of extraordinary solos as well. I dig the way Fay captures the old sound/style of jazz singers of yesteryear but still brings this sound to the present and future with advanced music and lyrics. I like the way the drums and bass kick off “Along the Winding Way” with a spacious freer intro before the voice and guitar come back in. In a few ways this is a perfect set that presents Fay Victor and her band in the best light.
-Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

DVD  $15

**For ordering and more, click here.
**More info on the Sanctuary for Independent Media and Free Jazz from the Sanctuary series including the other artists involved, click here