FAY VICTOR
Life Is Funny That Way is a major new work from soundartist-lyricist-bandleader Fay Victor. It is both a loving celebration and thorough reconsideration of the great jazz composer Herbie Nichols. This landmark work is the first time that a full program of lyrics were written & recorded for Nichols’ compositions. The innovative and wholly contemporary arrangements –also by Victor– are brought to vibrant life by a dedicated and profoundly gifted quintet of veteran jazz performers.
Though Fay Victor was born two years after the death of pianist-composer Herbie Nichols, these two native New Yorkers are connected by the space-time filament that is music…with a detour through Amsterdam.
Nearly 30 years ago while living in the Netherlands, Victor discovered and was captivated by Nichols’ music in the collection of her future husband. She first began to explore the concept of singing this tremendous work with Dutch pianist Misha Mengelberg and then, with Mengelberg’s encouragement, together with trombonist and one-time Nichols collaborator Roswell Rudd.
It was in 2013 that Fay Victor formed the Herbie Nichols SUNG project with American players and began to present it regularly in NYC, adding to a European trio version that had already toured the continent. This deep and extensive artistic journey which Victor embarked on, alongside leading other acclaimed bands and recording projects of all-original material, eventually led to the enthused involvement of the TAO Forms label. Its creative director, drummer Whit Dickey, not only shared a great appreciation of Nichols’ singular work as a composer, but was also a long-time fan of the exceptionally gifted vocalist.
As The New York Times wrote of her work, “Jazz singers have always been asked to strike some balance between the proper and the personal, but Victor’s style is all hers: a mix of speech and song, words and abstraction, interior monologue and call to action.”
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