Mimi Fox
Perpetually Hip
"She plays with tremendous fire. She can do pretty much
anything she wants on the guitar†- Joe Pass
With the ambitious two-CD set Perpetually Hip, her seventh release as a leader, Mimi Fox once again displays the masterful command of the fretboard that has led to her being named a winner in five consecutive Down Beat Magazine International Critics Polls (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007). She has also been profiled in that magazine's special feature, "66 Hot 6-Stringers: Down Beat's Look at the Guitarists Making Today's Scene," which presented "66 guitarists in the worlds of jazz, blues, and beyond whose work is innovating, invigorating, and perpetuating the guitar tradition."
With Perpetually Hip her eagerly awaited follow-up to the acclaimed She's The Woman, her debut on Steve Vai's Favored Nations Cool label, Fox distinguishes herself in both group and solo settings. Accompanied by a stellar cast of New York players in pianist Xavier Davis, bassist Harvie S and drummer Billy Hart, Fox displays her warm, clean tone in a variety of moods on the group disc, ranging from urgent bop-fueled romps and earthy blues to gorgeous ballads, alluring bossas and sensuous sambas, while showcasing her own originals. In the more intimate and revealing solo disc, she takes great liberties in interpreting some well known jazz standards while also preserving the melodic integrity of timeless gems from the great American songbook, covering Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Hoagy Carmichael. Throughout Perpetually Hip, Fox offers a fresh take on the jazz guitar tradition while also paying respect to her biggest six-string influences - Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, and Pat Martino.
A seasoned player, Fox has performed with fellow guitarists Charlie Byrd, Charlie Hunter, Stanley Jordan and Kenny Burrell, as well as with Grammy award winners saxophonists Branford Marsalis and David Sanchez and Manhattan Transfer's Janis Siegel, saxophonist Don Lanphere, Hammond B3 organ virtuosos Barbara Dennerlien and Dr. Lonnie Smith, and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. Fox has shared the bill with a wide array of artists including Abbey Lincoln, Diana Krall, Stevie Wonder and John Sebastian. She has performed her original scores as guest soloist with several orchestras, including Orchestra Sonoma, and has composed music for theater, film and dance. Fox has appeared on numerous television and radio shows including BET on Jazz and NPR's Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland as well as many others. Fox has been the recipient of numerous grants, including from the Westport CT Arts Council, the California Arts Council, and a prestigious Meet the Composer grant for her original scores.
Fox maintains a whirlwind touring schedule, playing major jazz clubs and festivals from New York to Tokyo, including tours of the Caribbean, Japan, Thailand and Australia. She has performed at The Village Gate, Merkin Concert Hall and Sweet Rhythm in New York City, Blues Alley in Washington D.C., Jazz Alley in Seattle, Scullers and Regattabar in Boston, The Ark in Ann Arbor, and Yoshi's, the Great American Music Hall and Kimball's East in the San Francisco area. She is a favorite at jazz and music festivals such as the Montreal Jazz Festival, Kennedy Center Women in Jazz Festival, the Guinness Cork Ireland Jazz Festival, the Britt Festival, the Newport Folk Festival, the Dominican Republic Jazz Festival, the San Francisco & San Jose Jazz Festivals, the Perth International Jazz Festival, Bumbershoot, Port Townsend and Monterey Jazz Festivals. Phil Elwood, dean of the San Francisco music critics, singled her out: "Outstanding performer. From the galaxy of stars at the JazzFest, guitarist Mimi Fox came across as the brightest."
Fox has received glowing accolades for two previous releases. In its 4-star review, Down Beat said "She's The Woman is everything jazz guitar is supposed to be." Guitar Player magazine said "Fox is a prodigious talent who has not only mastered the traditional forms, but has managed to reinvigorate them." In Cadence magazine, writer Jim Josselyn said of 2001's Standards, "This may be the finest solo jazz guitar playing I have ever heard." Her prior release, 1999's Kicks quickly rose to fifth place on jazz radio charts and number 20 on Billboard jazz charts. Kicks includes an all star line up of supporting musicians, with Hammond B3 monster Joey DeFrancesco, guitarist Charlie Hunter and Yellowjackets bandmates Russell Ferrante on piano and Will Kennedy on drums. Allaboutjazz.com awarded Kicks four stars out of four in its rave review, stating, "This is a strongly melodic collection, and one that swings out stylishly... Mimi Fox is a major talent... strongly recommended."
Born in New York City, Fox started playing drums at nine, and then guitar when she was ten. She was inspired by the wide variety of music enjoyed by her family - show tunes, classical, Dixieland, Motown - and her own youthful inclination toward pop, folk, and R&B. When she was fourteen, she bought her first jazz album "because it was on sale." The one she chose had no guitarist, but she was "blown away" by it. That album, John Coltrane's classic "Giant Steps," changed the course of her musical life. She began touring right out of high school and eventually moved to San Francisco in 1979, where she became a sought-after musician. She is Chair of the Guitar Department at the innovative Jazz School in Berkeley, California and adjunct professor at New York University. Mimi has appeared as guest clinician at the University of Southern California, Musician's Institute of Technology, CalArts, University of Connecticut, University of Oregon, the Britt Music Festival, and many others. She has written a book on jazz guitar studies published by Mel Bay Publications and recently completed an interactive CD-ROM for True Fire Music entitled Jazz Anatomy . Also now available from True Fire, Graduated Solos .
Meanwhile, Mimi asserts her place among the jazz guitar elite with the release of
Perpetually Hip , her most daring and fully realized project to date.
MIMI FOX LIVE AT THE MINT PERFORMING 'WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN.'I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
