It's always great to see an artist evolving and recording something totally different from what you've first heard from this artist. Fay Victor first came to my notice with releases under the moniker Darryl James/David Anthony Project feat. Fay Victor with You Make Me Happy and Where Do We Go? on Freeze records in 1992 and 1994. And to my own shame I must admit that I have forgotten about her until I recently saw her Darker Than Blue CD on cdbaby.com. Released in 2001 this is still a great jazz album with cover songs and original composition which shows what Fay is really capable of.
The album title, Darker Than Blue, is - like every soul music fan will notice - inspired by Curtis Mayfield We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue.
Charlie Mingus' Eclipse is a great tune to open the album since it's done very intimately with just Fay and her pianist Vijay Iyer. This just lets you gasping for more. And more quality music we get.
Zootoon is an original composition by Fay and Jochem van Dijk which features some fine guitar play from Anton Goudsmit. Tonight (House Party Starting), a tune by Herbie Nichols with lyrics by Fay, is turned into a eight minutes discerning masterpiece. And Fay doesn't stop there. She has more satisfying songs on offer like the standards My Reverie, Detour Ahead or What A Little Moonlight Can Do, which starts with drums by Steve Hass and Fay on vocals until John Hebert kicks in with his bass and Marc Mommaas on saxophone to turn this into a totally different version from the way I have heard before.
If you need further proof of Fay's greatness listen to her version of Mingus'/Gordon's Strollin' (Nostalgia In Times Square) or her epic version of Star Eyes, over nine minutes of musical perfection. Or take Eddie Harris' Sham Time, that becomes In The City with lyrics added by Fay and this tune features some brilliant scatting interaction by Fay with her musicians.
There are two more originals, Last Night's Dinner and Sometimes, that fits perfectly into the atmosphere and mood created on the whole album.
Darker Than Blue is definitively a must-have for any fan of sophisticated jazz music and if you've missed it at its time of release than it's a good opportunity to get it now together with Fay's new release Lazy Old Sun.