This Jazz And Blues Vocalist Makes Sure The Bay Area Gets Its Fill of Soul

Faye Carol brings life to jazz standards and to the Bay Area’s music scene all at once. (Faye Carol)

The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol has always felt that jazz, and Black music in general, is misunderstood. She points out Black music in America is a music that grows from generation to generation without leaving its lineage behind. “If you ask 10 people what opera or classical music is, you will likely get one similar answer across the board,” Carol says. “But if you ask 10 people what jazz is you’ll get 10 different answers.”

The artist makes regular stops in the Bay Area, her next show on Sunday, April 9 celebrates pianist Joe Warner’s birthday at Oakland’s Geoffrey’s Inner Circle. She had a month-long engagement at the venue through February 2022; it was her homage to Black History Month, and she was thankful Geoffrey’s doled out plates of soul food throughout her time singing at the club. To Carol, the story of how Africans were enslaved and taken to the United States often leaves out the genius and resilience required to make music out of shoddy instruments. “It is still the music of my people,” Carol says. “But it is also shared with the world. I want to uplift humanity with my music.”

And Carol would know — she’s no slouch in the Bay Area’s music scene. She played the Tenderloin’s Black Cat at the beginning of March 2023, and Civic Center’s Mr. Tipple’s at the end of the same month. A major feather in her cap came in 2021 when Art + Soul Oakland, a two-day festival produced by organization Heart of the Town, commissioned the blues and jazz vocalist for an evening-length suite of music for a cross-genre ensemble of vocals, piano, acoustic bass, drum set, string quartet, and a rapper. She says that show was the culmination of her life’s work. During the set, guests nodded their heads to Carol’s myriad inspirations: Bessie Smith, Ray Charles, Lauryn Hill, and more.

Whether it be in the East Bay or the city, fans keep coming to hear Carol sing her powerful songs. If Chris Brown didn’t know who jazz pianist Robert Glasper is, there’s still a lot of educating to do. “It’s important for these stories to be told because authentic Black music is so thoroughly underrepresented,” Carol says. “Our history both musically and as a people is so thoroughly untold and under-documented.”