Fay Victor

Victor was born in Brooklyn, New York City.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/arts/music/11jazzfests.html|title=CareFusion, Vision, Undead and Other Jazz Fests|last=Ratliff|first=Ben|date=June 10, 2010|work=The New York Times|access-date=25 March 2018|issn=0362-4331}} 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.{{Cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Fay-Victor-gives-free-rein-to-jazz-vocals-2311305.php|title=Fay Victor gives free rein to jazz vocals|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=25 March 2018}} After her mother's sudden death,{{Cite book|title=Giving Birth To Sound|publisher=Buddy's Knife|year=2015|isbn=978-3-00-049279-2|location=Koln, Germany|pages=248–253}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/fay-victor-mn0000162651|title=Fay Victor {{!}} Biography & History {{!}} AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=25 March 2018}} In 1996, Victor settled in Amsterdam, the Netherlands{{Cite web|url=https://nmbx.newmusicusa.org/fay-victor-opening-new-doors|title=Fay Victor Opening New Doors|access-date=March 25, 2018}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and performed and toured through the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Russia, and India.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fayvictor.com/biography/|title=Biography – Fay Victor|website=fayvictor.com|access-date=25 March 2018}} 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,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/28/arts/music/28abbey.html|title=Abbey Lincoln's Style Influences New Set of Recordings|last=Chinen|first=Nate|date=August 27, 2010|work=The New York Times|access-date=25 March 2018|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/arts/music/11play.html|title=New Works by Shrinebuilder, Fay Victor, Coati Mundi, Francesco Cafiso and Junk Culture|last=Ratliff|first=Ben|date=October 7, 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=25 March 2018|issn=0362-4331}} Jazz Times,{{Cite news|url=https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/fay-victor-ensemble-absinthe-vermouth/|title=Fay Victor Ensemble: Absinthe & Vermouth |work=JazzTimes|access-date=25 March 2018}}{{Cite news|url=https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/other-dimensions-in-music-featuring-fay-victor-kaiso-stories/|title=Other Dimensions in Music featuring Fay Victor: Kaiso Stories |work=JazzTimes|access-date=25 March 2018}} and Down Beat.{{Cite news|url=http://downbeat.com/news/detail/winterfest2|title=Winter Jazzfest Gilded with Guitarists and Vocalists|date=January 17, 2018|work=Down Beat|access-date=25 March 2018}}{{Cite news|url=http://downbeat.com/news/detail/roswell-rudd-feted-at-82nd-birthday-bash|title=Roswell Rudd Feted at 82nd Birthday Bash|date=November 28, 2017|work=Down Beat|access-date=25 March 2018}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.downbeat.com/digitaledition/2014/DB1403/_art/DB1403.pdf|title=Downbeat 1403 Digital Edition|access-date=March 25, 2018}}{{Cite web|url=http://downbeat.com/reviews/detail/embrace|title=DownBeat Reviews|website=Down Beat|access-date=25 March 2018}}

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.{{Cite news|url=https://sounditoutnyc.com/2017/09/14/sound-it-out-20-questions-2-fay-victor/|title=Sound It Out: "20 Questions" #2 — Fay Victor|date=September 15, 2017|work=Sound It Out!|access-date=25 March 2018}}

Victor is co-director of the TalkRace forum{{Cite web|url=http://www.cacophonymag.com/fayvictoryandtyshawnsoreyduo|title=FAY VICTOR / TYSHAWN SOREY|website=CACOPHONY|access-date=25 March 2018}} and is a member of the "We Have Voice" collective.{{Cite web|url=http://wehavevoice.org/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220182131/http://www.wehavevoice.org/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=December 20, 2017|title=we have voice|website=wehavevoice.org|access-date=25 March 2018}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/arts/music/we-have-voice-jazz-women-metoo.html|title=Women Fighting Sexism in Jazz Have a Voice. And Now, a Code of Conduct.|date=April 30, 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=7 May 2018|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/04/30/607142770/a-map-to-the-line-and-how-not-to-cross-it-a-code-of-conduct-for-the-performing-a|title=A Map to the Line, And How Not To Cross It: A Code Of Conduct For The Performing Arts|publisher=NPR|access-date=7 May 2018}}

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• {{Official website|https://www.fayvictor.com}}

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Category:21st-century American composers

Category:American women songwriters

Category:Living people

Category:1965 births

Category:20th-century American composers

Category:Musicians from Brooklyn

Category:20th-century American women composers

Category:21st-century American women composers

Category:RareNoiseRecords artists