Honoring the 100th anniversary of the birth of Wes Montgomery, guitarist Mimi Fox presents a new project featuring her original pieces and well-crafted arrangements of Montgomery's famous compositions. After touring and recording with such organ masters as the late great Joey DeFrancesco and Barbara Dennerlein, Mimi imbues the iconic B3 sound with dazzling virtuosity in a show that runs the gamut from greasy blues and funk, to luscious ballads and blazing bebop. Joining Mimi in the trio are Brian Ho and Lorca Hart, both of whom have played with many jazz legends and together with Mimi form an all-star group.
Mimi has been hailed by Guitar Player magazine as “a prodigious talent who has not only mastered the traditional forms but has managed to reinvigorate them.” The internationally acclaimed guitarist and composer has been a winner of six consecutive DownBeat magazine international critic’s polls.
Born in New York City, Fox started playing drums at nine and guitar when she was 10. When she was 14, she bought her first jazz album — John Coltrane’s Giant Steps — and the music changed the course of her life. She began touring right out of high school and eventually settled in the San Francisco Bay area where she became a sought-after player.
Fox has performed and recorded with many jazz greats, including fellow guitarists Charlie Byrd and Charlie Hunter; Grammy-nominated saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Houston Person; vocalists Abbey Lincoln and Diana Krall; and powerhouse drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. She has also shared the stage with music legend Stevie Wonder. Mimi has toured the world, playing such major festivals as the Montreal, Guinness Cork, Perth International, and Jamaica Spice Jazz Festivals. Stateside, she has headlined at elite venues such as Monterey and Newport jazz festival, The Blue Note, The Kennedy Center, Yoshi’s, and the Great American Music Hall among countless others.
Mimi has released 12 CDs as a leader including her last highly acclaimed outing This Bird Still Flies which received 4 stars from DownBeat magazine and of which JazzTimes said: “Remarkable…a dazzler from start to finish.”
