Fay Victor, Joe Morris And Darius Jones On The Jazz Session

This week, vocalist/composer Fay Victor, guitarist/composer Joe Morris and alto saxophonist Darius Jones will each be the focus of their own episodes of the popular interview podcast The Jazz Session hosted by Jason Crane.

They’ll each be talking about their newest recordings—Ms. Victor’s The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue Music), Mr. Morris’ Today On Earth (AUM Fidelity) and Mr. Jones’ Man’ish Boy (AUM Fidelity)—as well as other aspects of their music and careers.

We’re pleased to report this series of free downloads, which will be posted today, Wednesday and Friday respectively, has been informally dubbed “Improvised Communications Week” by the host.

Fay Victor In The Sunday New York Times

© DAZDI 2009

We’re very pleased to report that today’s New York Times features a review of The Fay Victor Ensemble’s The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue Music) by Ben Ratliff.

“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)…a studio recording organized like a live set. This means the band flows from one song into another, without knowing where it’s going next…these songs have distinct melodic character: fascinating ballads with Anders Nilsson’s country-bluesy guitar soloing, drum chants, some careful free improvising.”

Fay Victor Ensemble Tonight At Roulette (NYC) + Sunday At The Rotunda (Philly)

Vocalist/composer Fay Victor and her longstanding quartet, The Fay Victor Ensemble, will celebrate their new release, The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue Music), tonight at Roulette in New York.

A second CD release show will follow at The Rotunda in Philadelphia on Sunday.

Critical praise for the disc, and Ms. Victor’s innovative approach to creative improvised music, continues to roll in.

“Fay Victor’s second recording of original material, The FreeSong Suite, peers into the NYC-based vocalist’s challenging and rewarding world of captivating vocal work and stirring spontaneity,” explains PopMatters.com’s Andrew Zender, “further augmenting [her] status as a musician and composer who is rewriting the rules of vocal jazz.”

“Each piece on The FreeSong Suite gradually unfolds, emerging from a tapestry of improvisation to reveal precisely executed transitions, grooves and ensemble passages,” writes AllAboutJazz-New York’s Wilbur MacKenzie. “Victor scats, vocalizes, chips, mumbles and sings bluesy chromatics or angular displays of dexterity, delivering the unexpected with beauty, depth and innovation.”

The Jazz Session’s Jason Crane adds, “Vocalist Fay Victor will amaze you. Her voice is strong and expressive, and her musical conception is unlike anything I’ve heard recently. Or maybe ever. From free improv to the blues to alt-rock and back again, The FreeSong Suite is easily one of my top 10 records of 2009.”

Learn more at http://fayvictor.wordpress.com

Fay Victor’s The FreeSong Suite Released Today

Today is the official street date for The Fay Victor Ensemble’s latest release, The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue Music).

This is New York-based vocalist/composer Fay Victor’s sixth recording as a leader and her second with this longstanding group, which features guitarist Anders Nilsson, bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Michael “TA” Thompson.

The FreeSong Suite documents Ms. Victor’s new stream of consciousness approach to creative vocal music, which accentuates spontaneity and improvisation by removing traditional boundaries between individual songs and genres.

It features three long-form pieces made up of smaller compositions that flow in and out of each other as a running dialog.

CD release performances are set for October 1st in New York at Roulette and October 4th at The Rotunda in Philadelphia.

Ms. Victor, who co-curates the weekly Evolving Voice Vocal Series at New York’s The Local 269 in conjunction with Rise Up Creative Music & Arts (RUCMA), will also be performing throughout the fall with projects such as Fay Victor’s Jazz Vault, The Exposed Blues Duo and Twisted Standards and Free Explorations with Hilliard Greene, Dom Minasi and special guest Oleg Kireyev.

Learn more at http://fayvictor.wordpress.com

Previewing Our Clients’ Fall Performances

Mary Halvorson Trio by Peter Gannushkin

Here’s a preview of our clients’ Fall 2009 live dates in support of recent, current or forthcoming recordings.

[Updated 9/12/09]

Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society:

09/17 :: New Languages Festival (Brooklyn, NY)
09/18 :: The Jazz Gallery (New York, NY)
10/19 :: Brooklyn Big Band Bonanza @ The Bell House (Brooklyn, NY)
11/25 :: Iridium Jazz Club (New York, NY)

AUM Fidelity:

09/11 :: Joe Morris’ Wildlife @ Outpost 186 (Cambridge, MA)
10/14 :: Joe Morris Quartet @ The Local 269 (New York, NY)
10/15 :: David S. Ware/Darius Jones Trio/William Parker & Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra @ Abrons Arts Center (New York, NY)
11/20 :: Darius Jones Trio @ Firehouse 12 (New Haven, CT)

Taylor Ho Bynum:

09/19 :: Taylor Ho Bynum & SpiderMonkey Strings @ The Jazz Gallery (New York, NY)
09/25 :: Positive Catastrophe @ New Languages Festival (Brooklyn, NY)

Creative Nation Music:

09/05 :: Fewell/Hofbauer Duo @ Outpost 186 (Cambridge, MA)
09/23 :: Eric Hofbauer & The Infrared Band @ Cambridge YMCA Theater (Cambridge, MA)
09/30 :: Fewell/Hofbauer Duo @ OM (Cambridge, MA)
10/03 :: Garrison Fewell’s Variable Density Sound Orchestra @ Outpost 186 (Cambridge, MA)

Harris Eisenstadt & Canada Day:

09/16 :: Clean Feed Fest IV @ Cornelia Connelly Center (New York, NY)
10/24 :: Cornelia Street Cafe (New York, NY)
10/25 :: Cornelia Street Cafe (New York, NY)
10/27 :: York University (Toronto, ON)
10/27 :: Tranzac (Toronto, ON)
10/28 :: Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center (Buffalo, NY)
10/29 :: The Bop Shop (Rochester, NY)

James Falzone’s KLANG:

08/30 :: Chicago Jazz Festival preview @ Hungry Brain (Chicago, IL)
08/31 :: Chicago Jazz Festival preview @ Skylark (Chicago, IL)
09/06 :: Chicago Jazz Festival (Chicago, IL)
09/23 :: The Hideout (Chicago, IL)
11/18 :: Thomas Moore College (Covington, KY)
11/19 :: Bela Dubby (Cleveland, OH)
11/20 :: Kerrytown Concert House (Ann Arbor, MI)
11/21 :: The Sugar Maple (Milwaukee, WI)
11/22 :: The Hungry Brain (Chicago, IL)

Firehouse 12 Records:

09/19 :: Taylor Ho Bynum & SpiderMonkey Strings @ The Jazz Gallery (New York, NY)
09/25 :: John Hébert’s Byzantine Monkey @ Cornelia Street Cafe (New York, NY)
09/26 :: John Hébert’s Byzantine Monkey @ Cornelia Street Cafe (New York, NY)

Mary Halvorson/Jessica Pavone Duo:

10/25 :: Studio Odeon (Bruxelles, Belgium)
10/27 :: Auditorium Parco della Musica (Rome, Italy)
10/29 :: Vooruit (Gent, Belgium)
10/31 :: Botticino Jazz Festival (Botticino, Italy)

Mary Halvorson Trio:

12/07 :: Cafe Wilhelmina (Eindhoven, The Netherlands)
12/08 :: Stadtgarten (Cologne, Germany)
12/09 :: Alter Schl8hof (Wels, Austria)
12/11 :: Jazz Dock (Prague, Czech Republic)
12/13 :: Venue TBA, (Ueberlingen, Germany)
12/14 :: The Vortex Jazz Club (London, England)
12/16 :: Rote Fabrik (Zurich, Switzerland)

Mary Halvorson Quintet:

09/11 :: International House (Philadelphia, PA)
12/02 :: Barbès (Brooklyn, NY)
12/04 :: Firehouse 12 (New Haven, CT)

Jessica Pavone & The Toomai String Quintet:

11/10: Roulette (New York, NY)

Playscape Recordings

10/15 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Bucharest, Romania
10/16 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Sibiu, Romania
10/17 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Dunajska Streda, Slovakia
10/19 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Budapest, Hungary
10/20 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Budapest, Hungary
10/21 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Muenster, Germany
10/22 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Katowice, Poland
10/23 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Katowice, Poland
10/24 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Nurnberg, Germany
10/25 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Brussels, Belgium
10/26 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Neustadt, Germany
10/27 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Bergneustadt, Germany
10/28 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Dornbirn, Austria
10/29 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Leverkeusen, Germany
10/30 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Oberengstringen, Switzerland
10/31 :: The Fonda/Stevens Group in Saignelegier, Switzerland

Fay Victor Ensemble:

10/01 :: Roulette (New York, NY)
10/04 :: The Rotunda (Philadelphia, PA)

Fay Victor + RUCMA Create New Weekly Vocal Series

 

Photo by Jochem van Dijk

Vocalist/composer Fay Victor has joined forces with Patricia Nicholson Parker and Rise Up Creative Music & Arts (RUCMA) to co-curate a new weekly concert series at The Local 269 in New York.

 

The Evolving Voice Vocal Series, which will feature two vocalists every Tuesday night, launches tonight with Paul Harding & Juju Seahorse playing the 6:30 set and The KJ Denhert Group in the 8:00 slot.

Additional schedule information is available on the RUCMA Web site.

And, although she’s not performing at the series herself this month, you’ll still have two chances to hear Ms. Victor perform in New York thanks to Tyshawn Sorey, who is curating the August schedule at The Stone.

The ExPosed Blues Duo, her group with Fay Victor Ensemble guitarist Anders Nilsson, will perform with special guest cellist Tomas Ulrich on Wednesday, August 12th.

She’ll return to The Stone on Tuesday, August 25th with a trio called Crash, Braaaww, Thud, Aaaah featuring Sorey and eminent trombonist Roswell Rudd.

Reminder: Fay Victor Ensemble At The Stone Tonight

Fay Victor

Vocalist/composer Fay Victor and her longstanding flagship band, The Fay Victor Ensemble, will perform tonight at The Stone in New York.

The group, which Time Out New York calls “a unique mixture of impressionistic spoken word and gritty jazz fusion,” will be previewing music from its forthcoming September release, The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue Music).

“Taking jazz singing forward with a unique form of expression,” declares Cadence reviewer Jim Santella, “Fay Victor delivers with authority. She reaches out with open arms to celebrate the freedom that comes with singing what you feel.”

Jazzwise reviewer Selwyn Harris agrees, writing, “This New York-based vocalist actually stretches the definition of jazz vocals with Betty Carter, Hendrix and Sun Ra’s song-based cosmic poetry all in the mix.”

The Fay Victor Ensemble features guitarist Anders Nilsson, bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Michael T.A. Thompson.

Fay Victor in July

 

Photo by Jochem van Dijk

Fans of innovative jazz vocals will have two chances to see Fay Victor perform in New York this month, first in her new standards duo with guitarist Dom Minasi and later in the month with her longstanding flagship band, The Fay Victor Ensemble, which will release its second recording, The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue Music), in September.

 

July 2nd at 8:30 p.m.
Infrequent Seams presents:
Fay Victor/Dom Minasi Duo
Le Grand Dakar
Brooklyn, NY

July 15th at 10:00 p.m.
The Fay Victor Ensemble
The Stone
New York, NY

Fay Victor’s The FreeSongSuite Coming September 22nd

On September 22nd, New York-based vocalist/composer Fay Victor will release her sixth recording as a leader, The FreeSong Suite (GAM 0091), on her own Greene Avenue Music label. The follow-up to 2007’s Cartwheels Through The Cosmos (ArtistShare AS 0061), this is her second recording of all-original music written for her longstanding working quartet, The Fay Victor Ensemble, featuring guitarist Anders Nilsson, bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Michael “TA” Thompson.

The FreeSong Suite documents Ms. Victor’s new stream of consciousness approach to creative vocal music, which accentuates spontaneity and improvisation by removing traditional boundaries between individual songs and genres. The recording features three long-form pieces made up of smaller compositions that flow in and out of each other as a running dialog. As in all of her ensembles, the vocalist and instrumentalists operate on equal terms, constantly shaping and directing the music through their balanced explorations.

“The beauty of Victor, who’s the absolute antithesis of polite vocal jazz, is her blending of soulful delivery with avant-garde tactics,” explains AllAboutJazz.com’s Managing Editor, John Kelman. “Cartwheels Through the Cosmos is that rarity amongst contemporary vocal jazz releases: an album that doesn’t rely on a tired repertoire and looks, instead, for innovation in every corner. Her fearless exploration of a myriad of musical nexus points makes [it] an album for those who normally stay away from vocal jazz.”

“Taking jazz singing forward with a unique form of expression,” declares Cadence reviewer Jim Santella, “Fay Victor delivers with authority. She reaches out with open arms to celebrate the freedom that comes with singing what you feel.” Jazzwise reviewer Selwyn Harris agrees, writing, “This New York-based vocalist actually stretches the definition of jazz vocals with Betty Carter, Hendrix and Sun Ra’s song-based cosmic poetry all in the mix.” “It’s rather like performing acrobatics atop a moving roller coaster,” adds JazzTimes‘ Christopher Loudon. “It’s tough. It’s gutsy. It’s brilliant.”

A New York native who spent her childhood summers in Trinidad, and seven years of her adult life as a member of the renowned Dutch jazz scene, Ms. Victor has been one of the city’s most active vocalists since her return in late 2003. Since then, she has collaborated with a wide variety of bandleaders, instrumentalists and fellow vocalists, including current projects with Ernst Glerum, Misha Mengelberg, Dom Minasi, Roswell Rudd, Tyshawn Sorey, Tomas Ulrich and Wolter Wierbos. In addition to The Fay Victor Ensemble, she also leads Fay Victor’s Jazz Vault and co-leads The ExPosed Blues Duo with Anders Nilsson. Learn more at http://fayvictor.wordpress.com

Improvised Communications To Represent Fay Victor

 

Photo by Jochem van Dijk

 

Improvised Communications is pleased to announce it has been retained by vocalist/composer Fay Victor as her exclusive media contact beginning July 1st.

This new arrangement builds on a longstanding relationship that includes the promotion of Ms. Victor’s most recent release, 2007’s Cartwheels Through The Cosmos (ArtistShare AS 0061), as well as various live events.

Please tune in tomorrow when we’ll announce her new release, The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue Music), coming September 22nd on her own Greene Avenue Music label.