I have contributed compositions to the below records. These are collaborations with Fay Victor.
Fall 2013 shaw the release to great acclaim of “Absinthe & Vermouth”, the latest Fay Victor Ensemble record with 9 new compositions.

Absinthe & Vermouth

Greene Avenue Music, 2013
72:00
9 Tracks

Listen
Big Bag
Seashore

Personnel
Fay Victor – voice, compositions
Anders Nilsson – guitar, effects, voice
Ken Filiano – double bass, effects, voice

Track Listings
1. Big Bag
2. Crystal
3.  I’m on a Mission/Paper Cup
4. Gunk
5. Robot Clown
6. Seashore
7. Talk Talk
8. The Sign at the Door
9. Shaded in Grey

Reviews

4 STARS ****
-Downbeat Magazine

“Fay Victor sings from deep in here to way out there. On her ensemble’s third album, cryptic messages come in strange and intricate forms–chiaroscuro theatrical pieces that tell tales of an individualist’s exuberant survival in dystopia…this dramatic free-song queen’s candid scenarios and textured observations take time to grow on you, but patience and open ears will bear fruit”. 4 STARS
–Fred Bouchard, Downbeat Magazine

“On her new album, “Absinthe & Vermouth,” the vocalist Fay Victor imagines a literate but growlingly original new course for her working band”
-Nate Chinen, The New York Times

“Whether combing the detritus of her oversized purse (BIG BAG), examining the GUNK that must be cleared out to enable health and clarity, honking through the traffic jam of urban monotony (ROBOT CLOWN), commenting on modern technology’s mechanized drone (TALK TALK) or opening the door to heaven (SEASHORE), Victor and company remain bracingly, craftily brilliant.”
– Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes

“An inventive, far-out Betty Carter Influenced New York based vocalist steps up her co-writing partnership with Dutch husband Jochem van Dijk, in a raw, avant-chamber jazz trio setting.” ***THREE STARS–Selwyn Harris, Jazzwise (UK)

“Like Dali’s melting clock, Victor’s lyrics cascade in a melding of the mundane, the natural and the fantastical. Words morph into pointillistically expressive wails and punctuating tones. It’s like the Mad Hatter invited Kurt Weill and Arnold Schoenberg to tea and the caterpillar scored it.”
–Katie Bull, The New York Jazz Record(Vox Column)

Over the past few years, Ms. Victor has made inroads into the creative music scene with her no-holds-barred, improvisational, approach to music.  Along with bassist Ken Filiano and guitarist Anders Nilsson, she is creating music that breaks barriers while being true to Whitney Balliett’s description of jazz as “the sound of surprise”…”Absinthe & Vermouth” is filled with music that thrills those listeners who love a challenge (and might scare the devil out of purists). It’s easy to hear the Fay Victor Ensemble are a trio of equals – no one steals (or hogs) the spotlight and the creative interplay speaks of years of interaction, of paying attention to each other and enjoying the challenges that these compositions pose.  As an active listener, take your time and enjoy this aural roller-coaster.
-Richard Kamins, StepTempest

“Victor’s voice operates on many levels: it can be sweet and seductive, harsh and abrasive, one minute operating in the lower, quiet end of the spectrum before abruptly swooping into the stratosphere. When improvising, she frequently jumps octaves in a manner not dissimilar to Eric Dolphy’s improvisations. She alternates between singing and reciting lyrics and there’s great theatricality in her presentation. Her lyrics are alternately wry, witty, profound and bittersweet, sometimes all in one song. Frequently they are vignettes about her life…Get drawn into the spell of this music and you could easily take in the album’s 72 minutes in one fell swoop.”
–Robert Iannapollo, The New York Jazz Record

“Betty Carter is less an influence than one of her few peers in jazz history: someone who makes art more difficult and demanding than we’re often comfortable with, a singer who commands a band as disciplined and prickly as the star. Victor’s Ensemble includes Anders Nilsson, one of the most distinctive jazz guitarists working today, and Ken Filiano, one of those bassists who makes everyone sound better — his presence is as reliable a stamp of quality as casting Harry Dean Stanton in a movie”
-Tom Hull, Jazz Prospecting

“The latest record, Absinthe & Vermouth, serves as a new landmark in avant vocal work, unveiling a stunning array of musical interactions, emotions, and images…One of the best records of 2013, its late release (November) may have caused some to overlook it when compiling their “best of” lists. Fay Victor and her band continue to challenge us as listeners, to break through boundaries, and most importantly, retrieve something from their deep delving that is truly fascinating, unsettling, beautiful.”
-Cisco Bradley, Jazz Right Now

“How to describe Victor’s singing.Betty Carter with occasional Yoko Ono outbursts? The Eric Dolphy of singers? She’s got blues, soul, and jazz at the root of her sound, and a richness to her sound that definitely recalls Carter (as does some of her phrasing; another Carter-recalling aspect: the sheer joyfulness overflowing from some of these songs), but she favors very angular lines (the Dolphy aspect) even in the composed melodies and can go outside with the best, mixing in abstract sounds. On some tracks here, she becomes another instrument in her band. And what a band. Electric guitarist Anders Nilsson draws a wide range of sounds and styles from his instrument, and double bassist Ken Filiano is agile and phrases like a melody instrument. No drums, none needed. On the longer tracks, most notably “The Sign at the Door,” they all go on anything-can-happen excursions into the outer reaches. Back to Victor: the witty lyrics, such as on “Big Bag” and “Gunk,” make me smile, while for emotionally affecting ballads, the high point is “Seashore.” This was nearly my #1 album; it’s been climbing in my esteem the more I listen to it.”
–Steve Holtje, Culture Catch (The Best of 2013 – #2)

Bare

Greene Avenue Music 2010
59:20
9 Tracks

Listen:

Mood Indigo
Blue Monk
Mother Earthr

Personnel:

Fay Victor-voice
Anders Nilsson-guitar

Contributed:

3.  Dry

The FreeSong Suite

Greene Avenue Music 2009
60:03
3 Rooms/10 Tracks

Listen:

Gone Fishin’
Night Ties
Joe’s Car

Personnel:

Fay Victor-voice
Anders Nilsson- electric guitar
Ken Filiano – bass, effects
Michael ‘TA’ Thompson- drums, percussion

Contributed:

1.  Seasons
2.  Dry
3.  Bob and Weave
4.  Night Ties
5.  Joe’s Car
6.  Stemming
7.  Gone Fishing
8.  Ideal Situation
9.  Heating Up
10. Seasons – Reprise

Press Quotes:

“…these songs have distinct melodic character: fascinating ballads with Anders Nilsson’s country-bluesy guitar soloing, drum chants, some careful free improvising.”
–Ben Ratliff, The New York Times

“The whole thing is as if Joni Mitchell wrote lyrics for a lost Betty Carter prog-rock album — and it totally works.”
-Patrick Jarenwattananon, 10 Greatest Moments from Jazz Recordings in 2009 – NPR Jazz

“…original material has an ingrained storytelling quality that comes through even when the music is relatively abstract”

-Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader

“The Fay Victor Ensemble’s The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue, 2009) is a tour de force of writing, improvisation and performance..”. 

–Jason Crane, The Jazz Session

“… a music that looks forward cleverly mixing elements from past and present.”

–Mauritzio Comandini, All About Jazz: Italia

Purchase The FreeSong Suite:

itunes
amazon.com
cdbaby.com

Cartwheels Through The Cosmos

ArtistShare 2007
50:58
8 Tracks

Leap Of Faith
Exchange Rate
Stray Dogs

Personnel:

Fay Victor-voice
Anders Nilsson-electric guitar
Ken Filiano-double bass, effects
Michael ‘TA’ Thompson-drums

Contributed:

1. Leap of Faith
2. Exchange Rate
3. Its Coming
4. Spin
5. Pillow On My Ear
6. Along The Winding Way
7. Stray Dogs
8. Earth

View Lyrics for Cartwheels through the Cosmos HERE.

Press Quotes:

“It’s a borderless, cacophonous, in-your-face experiment in tone poetry and free-form expression. It’s tough.  It’s gutsy.  It’s brilliant.”
–Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes

“Complex, ambitious record….” (A-)
–Tom Hull, Village Voice

Purchase Cartwheels  ArtistShare at CDBaby and I-Tunes

Lazy Old Sun: LIVE/Life in the Lowlands

Listen:

People Are Strange
Stealaway
Nico

Greene Avenue Music 2004
64: 22
11 Tracks

Personnel:

Fay Victor-voice
Anton Goudsmit-electric guitar
Wolter Wierbos-trombone
Jacko Schoonderwoerd-double bass
Pieter Bast-drums

Contributed:

4. There They Are
6. Stealaway
7. Magere Brug (Lean Bridge)
8. Nico

Purchase Lazy Old Sun at Amazon.com and Cdbaby.com

Darker than Blue

Listen:

Zootoon
Strollin’
Sometimes

Timeless Records, BV
Released 2001
67:42
11 Tracks

Personnel:

Fay Victor-voice
Vijay Iyer-piano
Anton Goudsmit-electric guitar
Marc Mommaas-tenor saxophone
John Hebert-bass
Steve Hass-drums

Contributed::

2.  The Zootoon
6.  Last Night’s Dinner
9.  Sometimes