Fay Victor

Victor was born in Manhattan, New York City.^[3] After spending her early childhood years in New York, Zambia, and Trinidad & Tobago, Victor spent her teenage years in Long Island, NY.^[4] After her mother's sudden death,^[1] Victor re-discovered music and singing, which led to the minor Billboard charted club hit "You Make Me Happy"^[5] released in 1992 and remixed by Todd Terry in 1993. 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.^[6] In 1996, Victor settled in Amsterdam, the Netherlands^[7] and performed and toured through the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Russia, and India.^[8] While living in the Netherlands, Victor branched out into blues, songwriting, and forms of improvising outside the standard jazz canon. Victor moved back to New York City in 2003, and in 2023 settled in the Western Catskills region of New York State. 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,^[9][10] Jazz Times,^[11][12] and Down Beat.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Victor has coined the term "freesong" to describe her vocal approach.^[1][4] In her jazz repertoire, Victor has specialized in the work of Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman and Herbie Nichols.^[4][17] She has been a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble since 2021.^[18]