Fay Victor

Download Original Article

Fay Victor is the rare singer who can instill silence and focused attention into an audience, and she commands infectious joy and occasionally raucous energy whenever she performs. Ms. Victor, armed with great communicative powers, in charge of a full-tilt band, resulting in something that Betty Carter might have done, had she grown up in the seventies. Her new release Cartwheels through the Cosmos on the Artistshare label is easily the consummate outing of her career, 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 a healthy earthy soulfulness expressed through a focused set of originals that offer taut construction and witty lyrics.