Experimental Sound Studio presents the debut performance of a new collaboration between Devon Gates (bass, vocals) and Fay Victor (vocals), featuring compositions and improvisations inspired by Black feminist tradition.

This performance and interview are presented in ESS’s Studio A (note, because this performance is indoors, seating will be limited!), and will be premiered online on ESS’s YouTube.

The OPTION series is curated by Ken Vandermark, Lily Finnegan, and Andrew Clinkman.
Event Details

Sunday, August 20

3:00-5:00pm

Experimental Sound Studio, Studio A

5925 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago

About Fay Victor

Brooklyn, NY based sound artist/composer Fay Victor hones a unique vision for the vocal role in jazz and improvised music regarding repertoire, improvisation and composition. Victor has an ‘everything is everything’ aesthetic, using the freedom in the moment to inform the appropriate musical response, viewing the vocal instrument as full of possibilities for sound exploration, a throughline for direct messages in an improvising context. Victor embraces all of these ideas in real time and on Victor’s 11 critically acclaimed albums as a leader one can hear the evolution of this expansive expression.

Victor’s work has been featured in media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, Rolling Stone Magazine & The Hungton Post; Victor’s performed with luminaries such as William Parker, Roswell Rudd, Dr. Randy Weston, Nicole Mitchell, Misha Mengelberg, Myra Melford, Archie Shepp, Marc Ribot & Tyshawn Sorey to name but a few; Performance highlights include The Museum of Modern Art & The Whitney Museum of American Art (NYC), The Hammer Museum (LA), The Kolner Philharmonie (Germany), De Young Museum (SF), Symphony Space (NY), The Earshot Jazz Festival (Seattle), The Winter Jazz Festival(NYC) and the Bimhuis (Netherlands). As a composer, Victor has been awarded prizes such as the 2017 Herb Albert/Yaddo Fellow in Music Composition, a 2018 AIR in Composition for the Headlands Center for the Arts in California and a 2020 recipient of a Jazz Coalition Commission to create during the pandemic. An innovative educator, Victor is on the faculty of the College of Performing Arts at the New School where she teaches interdisciplinary practices and Vocal Performance, at the ROC Nation School for Sports, Music and Entertainment at Long Island University and continues to give talks and clinics on Jazz, Creative Improvisation, Composition and more at institutions around the world. Victor is a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble, Chairs an Advisory Board for the Jazz Leaders Fellowship, a new initiative for the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, and is an ex-ocio Board Member of the IASJ/The International Association of Schools of Jazz.

Learn more about Fay Victor at www.fayvictor.com

About Devon Gates

Devon Gates is a bassist, vocalist, composer and improviser from Atlanta, Georgia. Through studying anthropology and jazz performance at Harvard University and Berklee College, she has worked with Terri Lyne Carrington, Linda May Han Oh, Vijay Iyer, Danilo Perez, Claire Chase, and esperanza spalding, and has performed with Social Science, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Susie Ibarra, Michael Mayo, and Tia Fuller. Most recently, her original “Don’t Wait” was published in Berklee Press’ “New Standards” collection. She is a Mutual Mentorship for Musicians fellow, and has performed at Joe’s Pub, the Monterey Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Winter JazzFest, and SFJazz.

About OPTION

OPTION is an ongoing music salon curated by Chicago musicians Andrew Clinkman, Lily Finnegan, and Ken Vandermark and presented by Experimental Sound Studio. Its programming explores contemporary perspectives on improvisation and composition in a ‘salon’ format, enabling local, national, and international artists to publicly discuss their practice and ideas as well as perform. Click here for past OPTION performances.

RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/option-fay-victordevon-gates-duo-tickets-687296551487?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Official Website

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Tags: Chicago, Devon Gates, Edgewater, ess, Experimental Sound Studio, Fay Victor, OPTION: Fay Victor/Devon Gates Duo