[MUSIC]

Alison Stewart: This is All of It on WNYC, I'm Alison Stewart. Let's kick this segment off with some jazz. [MUSIC- How House Party - Herbie Nichols]

Alison Stewart: That's a 1956 recording of How House Party, starring pianist and composer Herbie Nichols. When today's guest, jazz artist Fay Victor, heard Nichols for the first time, she was hooked. She was drawn to the composer's harmonically complex sound, his lively arrangements. Of course, his classic, Lady Sings the Blues. Fay Victor quickly became a student of his craft. She immersed herself in Nichol's work, which helped her lay the groundwork for her latest album, Life is Funny That Way. The project is an homage to his artistry, but of course, she added her own spice. You can catch Fay Victor and her band performing at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center on July 21, but first, they join us right here in WNYC studio five for a live performance. Hi, Fay.

Fay Victor: Hi, Alison.

Alison Stewart: You want to introduce me to everybody in the room?

Fay Victor: Yes. We have Anthony Coleman at the piano, and we have Ratzo Harris at the double bass.

Alison Stewart: I understand you're going to start us off with a song. What are we going to hear?

Fay Victor: We going to hear a tune from Herbie Nichols called Shuffle Montgomery.

Alison Stewart: Let's go.

Fay Victor: All right.

[MUSIC - Herbie Nichols - Shuffle Montgomery]

Fay Victor: [scat singing]

Alison Stewart: That was Fay Victor, along with Ratzo Harris and Anthony Coleman. They are performing at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, July 24. You know what? I read the Blue Note website, and they describe Herbie Nichols as a tragically overlooked genius. First of all, why do you think he was overlooked?

Fay Victor: Well, he was overlooked because during his lifetime, he didn't get to perform much of his music. He had written this music and some really amazing jazz people had found out and discovered his music, but he didn't get a chance to perform a lot of his music while he was with us.

Alison Stewart: What would you want people to know about him?

Fay Victor: I want people to know about the joy of his swinging, hummable melodies and how much joy it filled me with the first time I heard them. To the point of wanting to create a project around just beautiful, singable, complex, and full-of-life songs that he composed.

Alison Stewart: I was going to ask you, how did Life is Funny That Way come about?

Fay Victor: Well, the title, Life Is Funny That Way, is a bit of a homage to the fact that during his lifetime, we didn't get to hear his music from him himself, but he made this record for Blue Note. He made a couple sides also for Bethlehem and Riverhead and because of those albums, his music is now part of this time and so many other artists have taken up the mantle of playing his music. Life is Funny That Way in the sense of we, as artists, do what we do and we may not get the accolades while we are here, but still, if it means something, it can be found and discovered and made anew again.

Alison Stewart: When you hear one of his songs and you decide, I want to do that, I want to interpret that. What are you listening for?

Fay Victor: That's such a good question. It's so different for every song. I feel like the song tells me what words to write. I spend a lot of time with the song. I play the song, and I just feel like after giving that space, I come with an idea that feels right for that particular composition.

Alison Stewart: When you're performing, sometimes it's improvised. How do you keep everybody together? How do you all look left, look right? [laughs]

Fay Victor: The amazing thing about this group, and Anthony and Ratzo are just. We also have a drummer named Tom Rainey and a saxophonist, Michael Attias, is that we've been together so long, and the trust is so deep and extensive that for a lot of things, we don't even have to. It's just we know what we want to contribute in that moment and we know is going to be accepted and responded to.

Alison Stewart: All right, you're going to play another song for us, Lady Sings the Blues.

Fay Victor: Yes.

Alison Stewart: This is Fay Victor, along with Ratzo Harris and Anthony Coleman. A reminder to you, they're playing at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, July 24, but here they are now with Lady Sings the Blues.

[music]

Fay Victor: [singing] Lady sings the blues.

I'm telling you

she's got them bad.

And wants the world to know.

Just what her blues about.

Lady sings the blues.

She tells her side

nothing to hide.

And now the world will know.

Just what her blues about.

The blues ain't nothing but a pain in your heart

when you get a bad start

when you and your man have to part

I ain't gonna to just sit around and cry.

I know I just won't die

Lady sings the blues.

I'm telling you, she's got them bad

and wants the world to know

just what her blues about.

Her blues about.

Her blues.

Alison Stewart: That was Lady Sings the Blues by Fay Victor. That was written by Herbie Nichols. Fay Victor is my guest. She'll be at the Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, July 24. I read somewhere you spent a lot of time in Japan as a performer and it was really, really pivotal to your experience. Why was that?

Fay Victor: Yes, well, when I first started out as a vocalist-- I'm a native New Yorker.

Alison Stewart: Whoop, whoop.

[laughter]

Fay Victor: New York is the jazz mecca. Certainly was in those years, and starting out was pretty tough, so I was able to get this gig in Japan in a town called Fukui City. I was there for three months. I got to take with me the amazing legendary pianist Bertha Hope and because it was the first time, I had to play every single night. I just fell in love more, more, more. That made me decide to make jazz music be my life's work. I literally made that decision there.

Alison Stewart: How did traveling the world and experiencing cultures help you shape your jazz, the type of jazz you do?

Fay Victor: I think it's just broadened my mind and broadened my experiences just as a human. My roots are from the Caribbean. My people are from Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, so I already had another perspective. Then to get to see more of the world and connect it to music just broadened my mindset and also broadened the possibilities of music. Broadened what I could do and broadened all the different genres of music that I hadn't been exposed to before just opened up to me and to my ears. Not so much in this particular project, but it's definitely influenced other aspects of my practice, for sure.

Alison Stewart: When you're thinking about jazz today, some young jazz musicians don't use the term jazz. They have different opinions about jazz. Where does it stand today compared to when you started, the jazz?

Fay Victor: I feel it's much more open. I remember when I was starting out, you really had to learn standard "the jazz canon," even just to sort of interact with musicians on stage, to sit in, to kind of get out there. I feel like now you can create a project that's original, that maybe is jazz "adjacent" and that can still be seen as part of the music. I feel like it's opened up a lot more and the possibilities how people create as well has opened up.

Alison Stewart: You're going to be headlining Jazz at Lincoln Center on Wednesday. It's one of the great jazz stages. Tell us what makes it special for jazz artists?

Fay Victor: I'm not sure I can say what makes it special for everybody, but I can say for me.

Alison Stewart: For you?

Fay Victor: It's a wonderful room to perform in. I've been fortunate to perform there before. This is my first time as a leader.

Alison Stewart: Woo, okay.

Fay Victor: Performed there before and great space, great sound, great food

Alison Stewart: Is it same every time you perform there?

Fay Victor: Yes. In my experience of performing there, it's been the same. It's also just very comfortable for the musicians. We have a good place to be when we're not playing and I mean, and the views.

Alison Stewart: [laughs] Can't blame.

Fay Victor: You know what I'm saying? Where else can we hear amazing jazz music and then get those amazing views at the same time?

Alison Stewart: Our third song we're going to hear from you. You want to tell us a little bit about House Party Standing?

Fay Victor: I want to talk a little about House Party Standing because this was what started it all. This was the song that I first heard of Herbie Nichols all the way back when I was living in Amsterdam and got me hooked, and so it's just an honor to get to play this song. The song that really started this whole project and got it going.

Alison Stewart: Fay Victor will be with her band at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, July 4. Why not get you to the mic and then I will say thank you to our guests Ratzo Harris, Anthony Coleman and Fay Victor. Here they go with House Party Starting.

[MUSIC - Herbie Nichols - House Party Starting]

Fay Victor: [whispers] One, two, three, and. [singing] Got that man out my way.

He's gone and that's the way it will stay.

Better get my fires warm

Well, all my friends are coming today

It was time for a change.

This is what I'm trying to say

festivities commencing

a house party starting tonight.

I think I made the right move.

So gather round,

We'll get out the news

Cause to celebrate

and bring out all my LPs and booze

Need to clear out my head.

I've been feeling low and confused.

I got myself together

A house party starting tonight.

Huh.

Come tomorrow morning I'll be laughing and hungover

from the long night before.

I won't be crying the blues,

they would have walked out of my door.

So oh, don't be too late

the food is brewing, I can't wait

Got my house nice and clean.

There's room enough, so please bring a date

Life is starting anew.

I wanna toast my future and fate.

happy times forever, our spot is starting tonight.

Come tomorrow morning, I'll be laughing.

And hungover from the long night before.

I won't be crying the blues,

They would have walked out my door.

So don't be too late.

The food is brewing,

I can't wait.

Got my house nice and clean.

There's room enough,

Please, bring a date.

Life is starting anew.

I want to toast my future and fate,

Happy times forever,

house party starting tonight.

Happy times forever,

house party, house party starting,

starting, starting, starting

Ooh, Ooh.

[00:23:32] [END OF AUDIO]

 

Copyright © 2024 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.