Recipient Information
Location
Oakland & Walnut Creek, California
Project Title
Blues, Baroque & Bars
Year of Award
2025
Grant or Fellowship
Jazz Road Creative Residencies Grant
Grant Amount
$40,000
'Blues, Baroque, & Bars,' is a multidisciplinary work featuring vocalist Faye Carol and her trio, string quartet, & rapper, telling the story of Black people in America through music, from the Middle Passage to the plantations, to the Great Migration, to the present day. This residency (January 2026-March 2026) includes 4 intensive rehearsal days, a new studio recording of this work, performances for youth in underserved Bay Area schools, & a public performance at the Lesher Center for the Arts.
About the Artist
The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol is known as an icon in the Bay Area and beyond, highly regarded for her powerful voice, astonishing versatility, and gift of connecting with her audience. Equally at home in jazz, blues, R&B, gospel, funk, latin, and hip-hop, throughout a 60-year career in music she has developed her own authentic sound and unique delivery, delighting audiences across the globe. She has maintained a high level of musicianship in her groups, mentoring some of the Bay Area's brightest young talent including Benny Green, Darrell Green, Dayna Stephens, Marcus Shelby, Howard Wiley, & Kito Kamili. Her vocal proteges include international superstars Kehlani & Ledisi. She has released 8 of her own recordings, & appears on 12 more. Also a dedicated educator & community activist, she is founder of the nonprofit organization School of The Getdown, producing the annual Black Women's Roots Festival & Black Music Month Festival, as well as free after school programs for youth & an annual Youth Arts Camp.
Miss Faye has shared the stage with Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Pharaoh Sanders, Otis Redding, James Brown, Joan Baez, Billy Higgins, Albert King, Bobby Hutcherson, Sun Ra, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Buster Williams, Azar Lawrence, Steve Turre, Dennis Chambers, Bernard Purdie, Lenny White, Robert Randolph, Billy Hart, John Handy, Gary Bartz, Cedar Walton, Ledisi, Jeff 'Tain' Watts, Ambrose Akinmusire, Philly Joe Jones, Dorothy Donegan, Pete Escovedo, David Murray, Chester Thompson, Charles Brown, & Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson, among others. She has been honored with the proclamation of “Faye Carol Day” in Berkeley and Oakland & inducted into the Oakland Walk of Fame, the Meridian Mississippi Walk of Fame, & the Pittsburg Entertainment & Arts Hall of Fame, & has received awards including the 2014 Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Hero Award, Jefferson Award for Public Service, four Cabaret Gold Awards, Top Star Awards Entertainer of the Year, & a prestigious 2021 Hewlett 50 Arts Commission. She was featured in the 2016 Oakland Museum exhibit “Oakland, I Want You to Know,” & she was a featured contributor in the 2017 documentary film “Evolutionary Blues.” She has performed at Town Hall, Bing Concert Hall, Zellerbach Hall, Keystone Korner, The SFJAZZ Center, UCLA Jazz Festival, Paramount Theatre, Yoshi’s Oakland, Monterey Jazz Festival, Portland Jazz Festival, Monterey Blues Festival, & Montreal Jazz Festival, & toured the U.S., Canada, Italy, Germany, & France.