Oct 17, 2023 3:36 PM
Carla Bley, Provocative Composer-Pianist, Dies at Age 87
With her iconic bangs, sharp features and free-flowing sense of the absurd, Carla Bley, who died Oct. 17 of brain…
Vocalist and bandleader Fay Victor is set to release Barn Songs on Nov. 15.
(Photo: Chris Weiss)Vocalist and bandleader Fay Victor—who’s worked with folks like Anthony Braxton, Ab Baars and Roswell Rudd—is prepping her latest album, Barn Songs (Northern Spy), for release on Nov. 15.
The album, comprised of songs Victor wrote while living in Amsterdam more than 20 years ago and brought to life here by cellist Marika Hughes and alto saxophonist Darius Jones, works as a reassessment of the singer’s past. It’s one with an undeniably timeless feel, touching on the intricacies of self-discovery. “Talk Talk (pt 2),” a tune off the album, premieres below.
“‘Talk Talk (pt 2)’ is some commentary on one feeling ‘stuck.’ Stuck in their jobs, relationships and in their lives. Stuck in this political farce we’re currently in. We all feel that sometimes,” Victor wrote in an email. “So, the commentary is on how much power we have to change that paradigm, if we choose to do so.”
In addition to readying the new recording, Victor’s set to perform at the Whitney Museum of Art as a part of Jazz on a High Floor in the Afternoon, a series orchestrated by pianist Jason Moran and the museum’s performance curator Adrienne Edwards.
For more information about Victor’s work, visit her website. DB
Bley told DownBeat in 1984: “I’m just a composer, and I use jazz musicians because they’re smarter, and they can save your ass in a bad situation. … I need all the help I can get.”
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With her iconic bangs, sharp features and free-flowing sense of the absurd, Carla Bley, who died Oct. 17 of brain…
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