Faye Carol
Encyclopedia
Faye Carol is a jazz
and blues
singer. She has been recognized as one of the San Francisco Bay Area
’s most versatile and creative female vocal stylist for over three decades. Faye weaves the influences of jazz singers like Billie Holiday
and Betty Carter
and blues singers like Bessie Smith
into her unique vocal tapestry. Faye Carol first got into music as a child in Meridian, Mississippi
, where she sang in a gospel choir at a school where her grandmother taught. At age 10 she moved to Pittsburg, where she discovered Sam Cooke
, Little Richard
and eventually her true love -- rhythm and blues. She began her career in the mid-60s touring as a vocalist in Bay Area R&B and funk bands. In the 1970s she formed her own trio and found appreciative audiences in cabaret and jazz venues. The San Francisco Examiner once wrote that “no singer in the Bay area comes close to Carol’s sheer intensity; she doesn’t just sell a song . . . she sells her soul for that song.”
Faye’s illustrious career has included recording with the late drummer Billy Higgins
and bassist Marcus Shelby (Flow on World Stage Records) and on-stage collaborations with Marvin Gaye
, Ray Charles
, Albert King
, Charles Brown
, Bobby Hutcherson
, Ben Vereen
, Steve Turre
, Billy Higgins
and Pharaoh Sanders. She has performed at a number of major music festivals including the Monterey Blues Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival
(with her daughter, pianist Kito Gamble), San Francisco Blues Festival
, the San Francisco Jazz Festival
, Berkeley Jazz Festival, and the San Jose Jazz Festival
. She has also toured throughout Europe and Canada.
From 2001-2003 Carol Faye was a vocal teacher and director of the Music in the Community program at the Black Repertory Group in Berkeley, California
. She has been the recipient of numerous awards throughout her career, including the KPFA BAJABA (Bay Area Jazz & Blues Artist) Bay Area Living Legend Award (2003), Top Star Awards as Entertainer of the Year (1994) and as Best Vocalist (1968). During the 1980s, she was a three-time winner of the Cabaret Gold Award and a recipient of the David Award as Outstanding Jazz and Blues Vocalist.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
singer. She has been recognized as one of the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
’s most versatile and creative female vocal stylist for over three decades. Faye weaves the influences of jazz singers like Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
and Betty Carter
Betty Carter
Betty Carter was an American jazz singer renowned for her improvisational technique and idiosyncratic vocal style...
and blues singers like Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
into her unique vocal tapestry. Faye Carol first got into music as a child in Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...
, where she sang in a gospel choir at a school where her grandmother taught. At age 10 she moved to Pittsburg, where she discovered Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
, Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
and eventually her true love -- rhythm and blues. She began her career in the mid-60s touring as a vocalist in Bay Area R&B and funk bands. In the 1970s she formed her own trio and found appreciative audiences in cabaret and jazz venues. The San Francisco Examiner once wrote that “no singer in the Bay area comes close to Carol’s sheer intensity; she doesn’t just sell a song . . . she sells her soul for that song.”
Faye’s illustrious career has included recording with the late drummer Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, beginning in 1958...
and bassist Marcus Shelby (Flow on World Stage Records) and on-stage collaborations with Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
, Charles Brown
Charles Brown
Charlie Brown is the principal character in the comic strip Peanuts.Charlie or Charles Brown may also refer to:-Athletes:* Charlie Brown from Dumfries who played for home town club Queen of the South...
, Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson is a jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His vibraphone playing is suggestive of the style of Milt Jackson in its free-flowing melodicism, but his sense of harmony and group interaction is thoroughly modern...
, Ben Vereen
Ben Vereen
Ben Vereen is an American actor, dancer, and singer who has appeared in numerous Broadway theatre shows. Vereen graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts.- Early years :...
, Steve Turre
Steve Turre
Steve Turre is a trombonist, recording artist, arranger, and educator. In 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2006 he won the Down Beat Reader's Poll for best trombonist....
, Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, beginning in 1958...
and Pharaoh Sanders. She has performed at a number of major music festivals including the Monterey Blues Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival
Monterey Jazz Festival
The Monterey Jazz Festival is one of the longest consecutively running jazz festivals. It debuted on October 3, 1958 and was founded by San Francisco jazz radio broadcaster Jimmy Lyons.-History:...
(with her daughter, pianist Kito Gamble), San Francisco Blues Festival
San Francisco Blues Festival
Debuting in 1973, the San Francisco Blues Festival is the longest running blues festival in the United States. Tom Mazzolini, the event's producer, founded the blues festival to educate the public about the history and evolution of the blues...
, the San Francisco Jazz Festival
San Francisco Jazz Festival
Debuting in 1983, the San Francisco Jazz Festival is an annual three-week celebration of today's best music, with over 30 concerts. Produced by SFJAZZ, a non-profit organization dedicated to jazz and jazz education...
, Berkeley Jazz Festival, and the San Jose Jazz Festival
San Jose Jazz Festival
The San José Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival organized by the San Jose Jazz Society and held in downtown San Jose, California, USA. The festival was established in 1990, and is mainly outdoors....
. She has also toured throughout Europe and Canada.
From 2001-2003 Carol Faye was a vocal teacher and director of the Music in the Community program at the Black Repertory Group in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. She has been the recipient of numerous awards throughout her career, including the KPFA BAJABA (Bay Area Jazz & Blues Artist) Bay Area Living Legend Award (2003), Top Star Awards as Entertainer of the Year (1994) and as Best Vocalist (1968). During the 1980s, she was a three-time winner of the Cabaret Gold Award and a recipient of the David Award as Outstanding Jazz and Blues Vocalist.
Selective discography
| Year | Title | Genre | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Flow w/Kito Gamble Trio | Jazz | WRS |
| 2003 | The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol | Jazz | Gamble Girls |