Fay Victor’s roots are firmly from the the jazz tradition and for the past 15 years Victor has spent an extensive amount of time learning, developing and writing lyrics for the compositions of Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols. Victor discovered Herbie Nichols while living in the Netherlands and has discussed, analyzed and performed his music with major proponents of his oeuvre such as pianist Misha Mengelberg and trombonist Roswell Rudd. After many years of working out the music and approach (also through working with German pianist Achim Kaufmann) Victor combined Herbie Nichols’ compositions and her lyrics with a new free spinning form for his music which spurned the project Herbie Nichols SUNG.
Herbie Nichols SUNG quintet has performed regularly around New York City, most recently at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem in September 2022, just one month before finally taking the quintet into the studio to record Herbie Nichols SUNG for the wonderful independent label, Tao Forms. Another first in 2022 for Herbie Nichols!, A Festival in his honor in Kalamazoo, MI and curated by saxophonist Peter Formanek. Herbis Nichols SUNG was honored to appear, equally honored to discover that Formanek discovered his love of Herbie Nichols while visiting the Herbie Nichols Centennial Celebration in 2019. Victor is the only New York based musician consistently playing the compositions of Herbie Nichols with an established group. In February 2016, Victor recorded the Herbie Nichols project LIVE in Amsterdam (The Bimhuis) and Koln (the Loft) with pianist Achim Kaufmann and reedist Tobias Delius working on getting a record deal for Herbie Nichols SUNG.(Check the SoundCloud Page for clips of Herbie Nichols SUNG). During the first week of January 2019, FV curated a four day celebration in honor of Herbie Nichols Centennial and Herbie Nichols SUNG was a part of the celebration.
New York City
Anthony Coleman – piano
Michael Attias-alto & baritone sax
Ratzo Harris – bass
Tom Rainey- drums
Europe
Achim Kaufmann – piano
Tobias Delius – tenor saxophone and clarinet
HERBIE NICHOLS 100TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION at the Stone (Jan. 2-5, 8:30 p.m.). While Bar Lunático will devote one night to honoring Nichols’s iconoclastic legacy, the Stone will welcome a different group each night for four days in a row. The multipart tribute kicks off with a performance from members of the Jazz Composers Collective, the confederation helmed by Ben Allison (see listing above). The radical, quizzical, often exuberant Fay Victor, who organized this full week of programming, will perform vocal interpretations of Nichols’s music on Jan. 3 with a five-piece band. On Jan. 4, a squad of pianists including Vijay Iyer and Anthony Coleman will give short solo recitals. The final night, six brass musicians affiliated with the trombonist Roswell Rudd — a champion of Nichols’s songbook who died last year — will play in a horns-only outfit led by the trumpeter Steven Bernstein.
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